Death is Strange
by Whybe123
Summary: With the cyclone long gone and Arcadia Bay torn to pieces, the few left alive have a new threat to worry about; the countless dead. (Zombie Apocalypse AU) [Arcadia Gays, OT4, but each individual pairing with Max gets it's time to shine and rip out your heart.] (Rated for violence and character death.) Hopefully, gonna give this another shot. taking a new route, so bye chapter six!
1. Life is Fleeting

**I hope you enjoy! Trigger warnings for violence, gore, blood, and death.**

 **Special thanks to my co author lllllllllletsgay on tumblr and follow me Whybe123 on tumblr**

I took point. Chloe was walking beside me. She was holding Kate's hand and holding her pistol in the other. Victoria had gone a few yards ahead of us down the train track. The woods were quiet except for the sound of Kate sniffling every so often. She was still crying. I saw Victoria stop and fall to her knees on the track, her body trembling. I swallowed a lump in my throat and bit back the stinging pain of tears.

"I'm gonna go check on her." I said softly. Chloe nodded and let me jog ahead. I padded down the tracks until I came beside Victoria. She was crying too, her face buried in her hands and her voice so hoarse you could barely hear the sobs. I kneeled next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulders.

"...it's not safe out here, Vic." I spoke, my voice wavering. Victoria turned slowly and looked up at me through puffy red eyes.

"You don't think I know that?" Victoria she spat, her lip quivered. She was outraged, and rightfully so.

"You know what I...Get up. We need to get back." I wasn't going to be having this, not out here, not now. My hands looped under her arms and hoisted her to her feet. With reluctance, Victoria marched along beside me. Autumn leaves littered the clearing alongside the tracks, tall trees made a wall around us.

This was our highway. Our highway to the coast. The coast littered with the corpses of fish and whales being eaten away by gulls and the ones still walking.

Victoria's hand went into mine. She apologized silently with a squeeze and a sideways glance at me.

"I'm sorry too." I breathed. My gaze turned behind us to see Chloe and Kate approaching fast, only a few feet behind us now. Chloe have me a half smile that I struggled to return. She still had the blood on her face, as did poor Kate. She was watching the ground with wide eyes. Chloe had to guide her every step. Her free hand was clutched around her rosary, knuckles white. I wanted to say something but I couldn't think of any comforts. So I turned back and walked on. No one spoke the entire walk home. Not a sound to be heard from us, or anyone. Arcadia Bay had gone quiet.

"I don't like this." Chloe grumbled while we walked down the Main Street. It was littered with cars, all of them empty and stripped of valuable parts. Most of them were splattered with gore.

"Why don't I see any?" Victoria asked me as if I had an answer.

"Be ready to rewind, Max." Chloe spoke up again, releasing Kate's hand and walking in front of the group. "We still have a good ten minutes walk."

"Alright." I agreed absentmindedly. Victoria flinched irritably and bit her lip, shaking her head. I bowed mine in return. Kate quickly clutched to Victoria's other side. I let Victoria go to dive into my messenger bag, I pulled out a pistol of my own and cocked it. Victoria pulled a monkey wrench out of the bag on my back and held it firm. Kate had a small switchblade in her hand. Her mouth was moving silently, probably mumbling some sort of prayer. Kate's eyes were darting violently across out surroundings.

She was breaking.

I watched Chloe kick something out of our path and into an alley. I briefly saw the flash of meat, bloodied and crawling with maggots. Victoria and Kate didn't need that right now. Not after what we did.

We walked back to the base with no more incidents. This was one of the few times I was glad for the walls around the school. Tall, concrete. The wrought iron hates of the front had been blocked off with a few cars, benches, and picnic tables.

'Piss off!' Was written across one of the walls in bright purple spray paint. Part of me laughed. I remember when Chloe did that a few days ago.

Chloe holstered her gun to remove the two backpacks she wore and chuck them over the tall walls. Then she squatted down and netted her fingers together.

"Let's go." She urged. Both Victoria and I looked at Kate to go first. She released Victoria's sleeve from her grip and pocketed her knife. Kate hurled her own backpack above the wall before turning to Chloe. Her foot went into Chloe's palms and she was boosted up to the top of the wall. Kate perched on top briefly before jumping down to the other side. Victoria went up and over next, repeating Kate's process. I was last. Chloe stood up as I approached her. She came close to me, her blue eyes downcast.

"You side with me right, Max?" My friend whispered, her eyes almost begging.

"There were no sides. We only had one choice." I felt tears now but ignored them. Chloe's expression softened. She bit her tongue and kneeled down to boost me up. I scaled the wall and straddled it. Then I leaned down to grip Chloe's forearm and pull her up with me. The two of us jumped down and saw Victoria and Kate halfway to the main building. Chloe and I followed silently behind with our bags in tow. I saw some old classmates standing at the front doors to the school with guns in their hands, shotguns to be specific. They gave Kate and Victoria a nod as they entered. When Chloe and I approached, one stopped us to ask;

"Hey, where's Taylor?"

I looked up at the student, a young man too small for that big gun. I stared at him, filled with such anger. Hatred he didn't deserve.

"She's dead." I spat. His face dropped and he looked to the ground.

"...damn." He whispered and shook his head. I stood there in silence with Chloe beside me for a moment longer to glare at that boy. Cursing him for asking me, damning him for wanting to know how we fucked up. How we failed.

Then I walked inside.

The hallways were a lot more dim now. We removed half the lights to save them for when these blow out. It just made it all more eerie and all too real. Chloe and I caught up to Victoria and Kate outside the old art room. Alyssa sat in front of the door with a clipboard in her hands. She gave us a half hearted smile.

"Hey guys." She had the sense not to ask about Taylor. "You can just drop your bags off, I'll stock everything."

"Thanks." I said.

"Oh and uh, Wells and Jefferson wanted to talk to you. In the hq." Alyssa added lowly. I nodded with a breathy sigh.

"I figured." Was my tired response. My legs carried me off to what once was the office of a school, now it's the head quarters for a group of survivors. The rest of my group followed behind. I didn't bother knocking on that oak door, I went in without a second thought. Wells, that big fat man, sat as his desk with papers around him and his lapdog Mark Jefferson leaning over his desk. The men glared at me as I bursted in the room.

"Yes, Maxine Cau-"

"It's Max. I would've thought you bothered to learn that by now." I growled sourly. Wells was taken aback. He paused to lick his lips and clasp his hands together atop his desk.

"Tell me what happened to Taylor on your run." He said cooly. "Close that door and get in here, all of you. Tell me what happened." We obeyed, closing the office door and approaching his desk. I was the only one to speak.

"She was bitten," I felt Victoria cringe. "She turned. She attacked Kate. Chloe shot her. Taylor never said anything about being bitten. We did what we had to."

The room went into thick silence as the blondes behind me held in sobs and the men before me gave each other wary glances. Wells sighed.

"Mark, give me Taylor's file and the rations reports. We need to make some adjustments."

"I'll tell the kids at the food storage as well." Jefferson said quietly as he handed Wells a few stacks of paper. Jefferson proceeded to lead us out of the office and close the door behind him. "Go get cleaned up. Dinner will be in an hour." Jefferson said stiffly and paced away down the hall towards the cafeteria.

None of us could even consider eating. It was unspoken between the four of us that eating was out of the question. Our group walked back out into the courtyard. It's funny how it almost looked normal. It would've been normal if I didn't see my friends perched high up on buildings or on the walls to look out over our town with guns in their hands. I told Chloe to go get our rations anyway even though the thought made me want to throw up what little food I had inside me. Chloe listened and turned on her heel to jog to the cafeteria while the rest of us went to the girl's dorm. Victoria walked ahead of Kate and I. My eyes went down to Kate, she was still in shock about what had happened. That was the closest she'd been to death since that day on the roof that felt so long ago. To make it worse she had watched her turn right in front of her. She had to fight for her life. My arm snaked around her shoulders and gave her a squeeze. Her wide blue eyes looked up at me. She still had the blood splatter on her face and her clothes.

"...Max," she barely spoke, her voice panicked.

"Yeah?"

"...I...I saw her...I saw inside her head." Tears poured down her cheeks. "I saw her skull...I saw her brain...I saw it all be blown away..."

"...I know." There was no reasoning this. There was no comforting or consoling. The world had lost it's reason and it's generosity. Kate's eyes went back to the front.

"Her blood went in my mouth, Max."

I had nothing to say that time. I heard her gag, I pulled away as she fell to her knees and threw up all over herself and the sidewalk. She was almost screaming with how hard she was crying.

"Get up Kate, we'll clean you up. It's gonna work out." I urged through my own sobs and pulled Kate up. I practically dragged her inside the dorms. Others inside averted their eyes and held their breath out of pity and disgust. I took Kate into the shower room.

"Get in the shower Kate." I said, almost ordered. She nodded and entered one of the stalls. "Give me your clothes, I'll get them washed. I'll bring you more."

"O-okay." She whimpered from behind the curtain. I waited and listened to she sound of her trying to calm down and stripping herself. My thoughts raced, flickering from the images of Taylor splattered on the floor and back to the present. I needed to focus on the now. I need to take care of Kate. I need to take care of Victoria and Chloe too. I should check on them...

"Here, Max." Kate's fragile voice snapped me out if my thoughts. Her pale hands stuck out of the shower holding her ruined clothes out to me.

"I'll be back in a few minutes with clothes, okay?"

"Okay."

The water turned on, I took it as my cue to leave her. I rinsed off her clothes in the sink for a second, scaring her with the cold water; I apologized profusely and left with the wet clothes. I threw them in the community laundry bin the girls had in the hall and made for my room. Kate had slowly began moving into my dorm. It was rather cramped at this point since I already shared it with Chloe. I didn't mind much though. It was nice to keep my friends close and know that they're safe. However, on my way to my room, I could hear shouting coming from Victoria's dorm. There was banging and shouting from behind her closed door. Instinctively I opened it and was shocked to see Chloe and Victoria wrestling on her floor, the two fighting for a knife.

"What the fuck are you two doing?!" I screamed. Victoria stopped fighting to look up at me, Chloe ripped the knife out of the blonde's hands and scrambled to her feet.

"She was trying to kill herself." Chloe panted. "You can be mad at me all you want, Max, but I'm not fucking losing two people today." Chloe was red in the face, both from anger and from being so tired. I blinked at her, examining the anger in her eyes.

"...I'm not mad at you." I decided was the best response. Chloe softened and nodded slightly. "Can you go get Kate something to wear? She's in the showers, I need to talk to Vic."

"Sure, Max." Chloe muttered lowly and left the room, she put the knife in my hand before she departed fully. I looked down at the blade in my hand, it was bloody but still shining. My gaze went to Victoria whom still lay defeated on the floor, panting.

"...Were you really going to?" I asked. Victoria's fine features contorted into a grimace as another bout of tears escaped her.

"I don't know!" She exclaimed. "I wanted to...I want to! I want to die, Max! I can't handle all this!"

"No one is handling this!" I shouted back. "We're all fucking dying inside, Victoria! All of us want to die! But we're not going to give up like this. We're going to fight for everyone who has died." I threw the knife down onto the floor in the doorway and pawed my way onto the floor beside Victoria. "You can't just quit after working so hard." Victoria was fighting herself, I could see it in her eyes. Her breathing was spastic but she was trying to relax. My hand made it's way to her back, scratching slow circles over her torso. Victoria and I sat on her bedroom floor for what felt like days. Eventually she relaxed and sat up. Quietly she thanked me.

"Don't make me do this again, Victoria. I'm not losing you." I replied sternly. She looked so confused but nodded. "Did Chloe bring you food?"

"Y-yeah, but I'm not-"

"Eat." I interjected as I rose to my feet to walk out. "And go to bed. Its been a long day."

"Hella." Victoria jested with a faint smile. It brought a tiny smirk to my lips hearing that.

"Hella indeed."

I left Victoria's room. I took her knife with me.

I was back on course to my dorm. When I entered I found Kate sitting in Chloe's lap on my bed. Chloe appeared to be asleep as she leant against the wall. Kate was eating very slowly. Her tired eyes locked with mine, she smiled faintly.

"Thank you for looking out for me all this time, Max." Kate said gently. "You're the one thing I still believe in."

I didn't understand what she meant at first, then I noticed her rosary was sitting on my desk instead of around her neck. I felt a twinge of guilt.

"You should wear it still, Kate. Just because he hasn't been helping today doesn't mean he won't tomorrow, right?" I insisted, picking up the golden rosary and walking it over to Kate. She mustered a half smile.

"I suppose..."

"It helps to have something to believe in." I continued and returned the rosary to where it belonged. Kate's smooth skin was hot to the touch, I could feel her pulse as I clasped the rosary back on her. My hands got momentarily tangled in her wet hair, it was still odd seeing it down despite how often I saw it that way as of late. "Thank you for believing in me, Kate." I held her face gently and planted a peck on her forehead, her hand briefly went to mine and she smiled. I sat myself next to them and watched Chloe's breathing. She changed and showered as well. She was wearing one of my old shirts and some shorts. Chloe was out like a light.

"Did Chloe eat?" I asked Kate.

"Only a little. She gave me the rest of here because I told her I threw up earlier..." Kate responded. I sighed.

"You selfless dork." I mumbled at my sleeping companion. I planted a kiss on her cheek and curled up in a ball at the head of my bed.

Today was too long.

Tomorrow would be even longer.


	2. Life is Bloody

**WARNING FOR THIS CHAPTER**

 **EXTREME GORE, VIOLENCE, AND BODY HORROR.**

 **Edit: fixed most and hopefully all of the typos. I was writing this at like two a.m. sue me.**

.o0o.

I awoke with a start. Dazed and confused, my eyes were drawn to my door. Dana was looming in my doorway with an expectant look on her face.

"Hey, get up, Wells wants you and Chloe to run." She said. I nodded groggily and Dana backed out. I rested my head back into my pillows and breathed. I was tangled in a web of limbs belonging to Kate and Chloe. I jabbed my elbow into Chloe's ribs, she woke up instantly. She gave me a look of irritation.

"Running." Was the explanation I gave Chloe. She rolled her eyes and buried her face back into the pillows.

"Fuuuuuuuuuuck." Chloe growled.

"I know." I replied and rolled away from her. Kate was on my other side, she too was slowly waking up. Her deep blue eyes blinked at me, still glazed with sleep.

"Leaving?" She asked softly.

"Only for a little bit." I cooed and brushed some of her bangs out of her eyes. Kate eyed me warily, worry forming on her face.

"Be safe, angel." Kate said, her voice hushed.

"Always." I replied. I pulled Kate into a tight hug and laid a few kisses on her cheek. She felt a little warm. I hoped she wasn't getting sick. It was probably the stress of yesterday getting to her. I decided I would pick up something for her during our run, just in case she was getting a cold. She gave me a tiny smile and I crawled out of bed. I turned to Chloe. "I'm gonna go get our gear and I'll meet you out front, Chloe."

"Yeah yeah..." Chloe groaned as she too clambered out of bed. Kate scooted into the center of the bed and pulled the covers up to her chin. Chloe and I began to strip out of our pajamas to layer on the clothes we had available. Chloe pulled a tank top over her head and tied a flannel around her waist. She hopped out of the room while squeezing into a pair of jeans and her boots.

"I'll grab breakfast!" Chloe called, suddenly much more awake.

"I'll meet you in Wells' office!" I replied, pulling a t-shirt over the long sleeve I adorned. I remembered this shirt, it seems like a lifetime ago when I got it. I smiled briefly down at the deer design and took my leave.

I marched through the courtyard and into the main building. I found Warren waiting for me in the old chemistry room, he had that dopey grin on his face.

"Hey, Max." He greeted me pleasantly.

"Morning, Warren." I replied with a yawn. Warren rose from the lab table he was seated at and placed a few seemingly innocent tin cans in front of him.

"Here's the grenades. I figured since you're going back to the market you'd want them." He said. "Your bags have two candy bars each, some bread, and a canteen. Your guns are reloaded as well."

"Alright, what are we hunting?" I questioned, scooping the homemade grenades into my arms and loading them into our backpacks.

"We need..." Warren began to speak as he scrambled to another table, his eyes prowling over papers. "We need peroxide, bandages, pain killers, running low on canned goods, uh, soaps, and more ammo for Stella's sniper."

"How is she already running out?" I asked bitterly. "We just found a whole box a few days ago."

"I know, but Stella was cleaning up Main Street the past few days and is running out." Warren answered. He quickly jotted down what we needed on a scrap paper, as if I was making a casual run to the store, and handed it to me. I checked it again before stuffing it into my pocket.

"That explains why it was so quiet." I mumbled.

"She was camping on top of Two Whales killing what she could. Did a pretty good job actually." Warren pondered while jokingly stroking the beginnings of a beard he had started to grow.

"I'll give her that." I replied. I donned my backpack and picked up Chloe's. "Thanks, Warren."

"Any time, Max." He beamed.

I almost wanted to punch all those sparkly teeth out. People are dead and dying, stop being so goddamn cheerful. Maybe that's why they keep that little nerd around. He keeps people happy. And he can make some damn good bombs.

I sighed as I maneuvered through the school to the front gates. I saw Chloe waiting as planned with small Tupperware containers in her hands. She managed a smile as I approached. We traded what was in our hands, I gave Chloe her backpack and she gave me my breakfast. I popped the lid off to peer inside, there was a fried egg, fried spam, and grits.

"Wow, eggs! I haven't had an egg in months..." I gasped. I felt my stomach rumble when the scent invaded my nose.

"My mom's doing." Chloe said with a sense of pride. "She...she felt bad about Taylor. She hoped to help by doing something small."

"I'll have to thank her later." I smiled and tucked the meal away in my backpack. "Where'd she get the eggs?"

"Didn't say." Chloe shrugged as she clambered up a bench and onto the wall. "And I didn't ask."

"Fair enough." Letting the subject drop, I followed Chloe up and over the wall. Arcadia Bay was as dead as the evening before. I thanked Stella internally for silencing the streets. Chloe and I jogged through town. We passed familiar buildings that had been decimated by the cyclone from a few months ago, the one in my dreams; the one plaguing my thoughts. It wasn't nearly as bad as it seemed. Not saying it was good either. The town was obliterated. Our school was one of the only buildings sturdy enough to survive. So many people were crushed in the rubble. We saved a few good souls, but more died. It was about a week after the storm that the dead started walking among us again. I'd never seen anything like it. I always thought those stupid, cheesy zombie movies Chloe forced me to watch when we were little were all just bad dreams. Now they're my all-too-real reality.

My thoughts were interrupted by Chloe's arm hitting me against my chest, stopping both of us in our tracks.

"What?" I whispered.

"Get down." Chloe replied harshly but quietly. The two of us fell to the asphalt and ducked behind an abandoned car. Chloe peered over the hood, her face looked frightened. That was never a good sign.

"What is it, Chloe?" I asked again. Chloe swallowed hard before pulling out her handgun and taking aim. "Chloe, are you fucking insane?! You'll alert anything nearby where we are. What's gotten into you?" I decided to take a stand, literally, and looked over the car to see what had Chloe acting so out of character. I couldn't believe what I saw. "Oh my god…" I barely whispered. The barrel of Chloe's gun was aimed at the remains of a creature that was identifiable as Frank.

"Look at that son of a bitch." Chloe spat, her voice getting louder. There was a horde behind Frank that would instantly be alerted if she fired or if she spoke too loud. "Finally got what he deserved."

"Chloe, Chloe no." I said cautiously and reached towards her. "I know you hate the bastard, but if you shoot him you're going to get us killed." Chloe's grip remained firm and her eyes didn't move from her target. She bit her lip, thinking. "Chloe he is not worth it. He's dead already, he's nothing now. I didn't think he could get even more brain-dead than he was but he is" Chloe shook her head with defeat. She lowered the gun.

"Fucking asshole, stupid, fucking- lets get the hell out of here." Chloe was never one for words. She swore and bolted from behind the car towards an alleyway. I followed close behind. We scrambled onto a dumpster, then onto the roof of a building. All of them were looted bare. There was nothing else to find here in Arcadia Bay. We had to venture farther.

.o0o.

Chloe didn't speak for an hour, which was both unlike her and unnerving. We'd walked several miles down the train tracks, Arcadia Bay long behind us. Coming into our field of view was a railway station our clan had renovated into a safe zone. There was a chain-link fence surrounding a tiny building. Atop the shot building I saw an ally perched on a lawnchair with a gun across her lap. She saw us coming, she stood and waved her hands over her head in greeting. Chloe and I returned the gesture and quickened our pace to join our friend. It was Brooke. Chloe and I scaled the fence, it was reinforced with sandbags and plywood. Surprisingly durable, it barely wavered to our weight. Brooke jumped off the low roof to greet us, we exchanged side-hugs and a few somber smiled.

"Running up to town, eh?" Brooke assumed while bringing us inside the station.

"Yeah...Running low on peroxide and stuff." I sighed. The long walk had numbed my legs, the feeling began to return when I plopped lazily on Brooke's mattress.

"I've got candy bars in that file cabinet if you need some, you guys look whipped." Brooke gestured to a tall filing cabinet near a boarded up window.

"Thanks, but we have food." I turned down her offer and pulled my backpack off my shoulders. Chloe copied me and dug into her backpack to retrieve her meal. She tore into the, now cold, food ravenously. I did the same but managed to avoid getting grits all over my face like she did.

"So I heard something happened but I didn't hear any details." Brooke spoke up. I swallowed the food in my mouth, nearly choking on it before I could answer.

"Taylor is dead." Chloe said bluntly.

"Oh, damn, I-I...What happened to her?" Brooke asked, stepping closer to Chloe, Chloe's blue eyes flickered with distaste.

"I shot her in the head after she turned and tried to kill Kate." Chloe spoke venomously to Brooke. Brooke was at a loss for words, she stuttered and took a step away from Chloe. She turned to me.

"Is Kate alright at least?" She asked, i feel as though it was the only question she could think of; it was the only one she truly wanted an answer to at this point.

"She's shaken up, but okay otherwise." I affirmed, eating my last bite of cold, fried spam. Brooke nodded and left in a huff, leaving me to scold Chloe. "Chloe what the fuck?" I shouted as quietly as I could without alerting Brooke. Chloe shrugged angrily at me and averted her eyes. She toyed with the last bit of grits in her tupperware absentmindedly. "You can't just tell people you shot and killed someone!"

"Like it fucking matters…" Chloe grumbled.

"Chloe, you're upset, I get that; but everyone is upset about what happened-"

"But you didn't have to shoot her, did you?" Chloe was shouting, she rose to her feet and was barking down at me. "You didn't! _I_ had to shoot her! You don't fucking get it! I saw so much happen at once, I watched her brain fucking splatter all over the floor, and me, and poor Kate- I fucking killed someone in front of _Kate!_ She cannot handle this, I cannot handle this. And _you_ need to stop pretending like you're handling this!"

Chloe pointed her finger in my face as she screamed and hollered at me, I was sick of it. Sick of her. I rose to my feet and glared up at Chloe, I hated how much taller she was sometimes, and I pushed her by her shoulders. Chloe stumbled backwards. Her eyes went wide with shock.

"I'm not handling this, Chloe. You're fucking right." I bit back, my voice wavering on the edge of tears. "But I'm going to keep pretending I can handle this for the sake of everyone else. We need something to believe in."

"And that thing is supposed to be you?" Chloe continued to argue.

"No. No, I'm anything but. I'm hoping i can help everyone find something real to believe in. Something that won't let them down as much as I do." Chloe shook her head and turned away from me. She leaned against the wall and shuddered.

"...I…" Chloe choked. She took a deep breath and started again. "I'm sorry."

"I am too." I responded. "...Are we good?" Chloe nodded slightly and turned back to face me. A half-forced smile slapped across her face.

"We're the best." She chuckled.

.o0o.

Chloe's arm was loosely wrapped around my waist as the two of us sauntered into the outskirts of the next town over. We needed to be prepared, there was plenty dead still lumbering around this town. I was reluctant to shrug Chloe's arm off me, but I did so to arm myself. Chloe did the same, she pulled a monkey wrench from her bag while I pulled a mallet out of mine. We spotted several dead walking around the exterior of what used to be a motel. Other than that, the path down the narrow street was empty. Our destination was the market at the end of the road. It was the market we brought Taylor into.

I felt my breakfast grow incredibly heavy in my stomach, I wanted to throw up.

"Oh no." I gagged and covered my mouth. Chloe's hand went to my back, she rubbed my shoulders gently.

"Are you going to be able to go in there?" My companion asked.

"I-I-I have to. We're running out of meds and peroxide." I insisted more to myself than to her. "People need those."

"...If you're sure." Chloe shrugged. "Let's go, Mad Max."

"Let's go." I repeated. The two of us sprinted past the dead looming about, hurdling cars and debris.

"Parkour!" Chloe laughed, as though it was a game. I suppose that was her way of coping. Chloe and I made it to the market. We pried open the doors since they wouldn't open by themselves anymore and squeezed inside. We sealed them once more, then turned to examine our surroundings. The store was quiet, save for our panting. We threw half smiles at each other and laughed.

"Whew, we made it!" Chloe chuckled, she hunched over to take a few breaths and recuperate.

"Yeah, we did. Let's get to work." I replied and burrowed into my backpack. I retrieved a flashlight and flicked it on. This building had hardly any windows, it was pitch black throughout the market, save for the area illuminated by the glass doors. I marched on without Chloe towards where the pharmacy was located. I held my mallet at the ready and approached the counter. I looked over it and saw no trace of the dead. There wasn't even blood. I hopped over the counter and started to pilfer the shelves.

"Flu meds, sure...painkillers, yes...What are these?" I questioned an impossible to pronounce drug but threw it in my bag along with the rest of the pills. I pulled the crumpled slip of paper Warren had given me from my pocket to look over what we needed.

 _peroxide_

 _bandages_

 _pain killers_

 _canned food_

 _soap_

 _ammo_

"Peroxide should be over here too, but I got painkillers." I mumbled absentmindedly. I continued to scour the shelves. i found two tall bottles of peroxide and bandages and stuffed the lot in the bag with everything else.

"Food and soap since i doubt there's sniper ammo here…" I mentally checked things off the list. I smiled slightly and returned to the front of the counter. The rest of the shelves appeared barren. The only place I could think of looking was the back room, but that's where we shot-

"UUAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! MAAAAAAAAAX! _MAAAAAAAAAAAX!"_

"Chloe?!" I sprinted towards the sound of Chloe's screams without much second thought. It was coming from the back room. I turned the corner to a hallway and was met with a horrific sight Chloe's screams died down to pained gargling as the muscle of her neck was torn out by the teeth of Taylor. I couldn't react. She was supposed to be dead. Perma-dead. Not here! I held up my hand and focused my mind, the sounds of blood splatter and ripping flesh played backwards in the air around me. I went back, I traveled back to when it was Chloe preparing to enter the back room, alone. I put my hand back down and called out to Chloe.

"Chloe, don't go in there!" I said suddenly, she jumped and yelped.

"Fuck, Max! You can't sneak up on someone during a fucking apocalypse!" She shouted.

"No, Chloe, Taylor she's still in there! She's not de-" I was cut off by the door of the break room being busted off it's hinges. Chloe leapt towards me, standing between what was Taylor and me. Chloe was walking backwards towards me, she slipped and fell on her behind.

"No, n-no, no! You're fucking dead! You can't be here _you're fucking dead!"_ Chloe screamed at the top of her lungs. Taylor straightened up and looked at us. The entire right half of her cranium was gone, her right eye hung lazily out of its socket and galred down at the floor. She let out a screech, my blood ran cold. It was unlike anything I'd heard before. Demonic, unholy. I was petrified. I couldn't react fast enough to pull my gun from it's holster and shoot, I barely got it in my hands before Taylor pounced on Chloe and I watched her be torn apart again. It was almost more gruesome the second time. Her blood flew everywhere, her screams made my heart go completely numb.

 _"MAAAAAAAAAAAAAX!"_

I shook as I rewound again, shaking, panting. I had to save Chloe no matter how terrified I was. The ripping and screaming echoed in my skull, I didn't want to do this a third time; I don't think I could. My hand lowered and my gun raised. I shot, aiming for the remains of her head. The bullet landed in Taylor's functioning eye. It exploded on impact, she was sent backwards onto the tiled floors and went silent. Chloe hadn't moved from the floor. She was sitting there in shock.

"Get up, get up! We need to get out of here, _now!"_ I panicked, gripping Chloe's arms and hoisting her off the ground. She slipped slightly but followed closely. Chloe was trying to speak but it came out in panicked cries and moans. "Run, dammit, pick your feet up!" I shouted. We approached the front door. I struggled to pry it open alone as Chloe remained frozen in place, gazing in the direction we came.

"Max," She said, urgency in her voice. "Max, Max, she's not dead! _She's not dead!"_ Chloe screamed. She took her wrench to the glass of the door, shattering it. We climbed out, I felt the glass tear at my face and hands. We bolted from that building, but not fast enough to avoid the wailing alarm triggered by the breaking glass. It resounded throughout the entire little town. All the dead seemed to turn and look at us at once. Dead, soulless, unblinking, pale eyes. My senses were overwhelmed. My vision was dotted with fuzzy black spots, I suddenly became off-balance.

"Max? No, no, no, not now, get up!" Chloe's voice sounded so far away. The world was so dark, was it nightfall already? The zombies were so loud.

...Why was Chloe crying?


	3. Life is Ending

I could still hear them from within the blackness. I heard them. They were coming for me, for Chloe. The flesh was tearing, bones breaking...I heard the drip, drip, dripping of blood falling to an unforgiving floor. No, I didn't hear it, I felt it. I felt them clawing into my skin, into my chest, ripping out my heart and my lungs. I couldn't breathe. They were going to kill me. Help! Help!

 _HELP ME!_

I shot up in a blur of shapes, I felt hands gripping my shoulders and instinctively tried to fight them off. I looked to see who they belonged to and saw the tear-stained face of Chloe.

"Chloe?" I gasped, confusion lacing my being and my struggling stopping. "Chloe what happened?" Her eyes were red and swollen with tears.

"Max, you're alright, thank god." Chloe sobbed and hugged me. I glanced around and saw that we were back at the railroad station.

"What happened Chloe?" I begged her for an answer.

"You blacked out and I had to carry you out of that damn town." She answered.

"How? There was a whole horde." I was amazed but I believed her, since we made it here in once piece.

"Warren's grenades really work." Chloe chuckled through a sob. I returned Chloe's embrace, her nails dug into my back.

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"No." She responded, laughing and crying. "We saw Taylor...what was with that? We shot it in the head, _twice!"_

"I wish I knew. But that certainly wasn't like any other dead I've ever seen. She was strong, and fast, and-"

"And capable of taking two gunshots to the head!" Chloe exclaimed, pulling out of our hug to sit beside me. She linked our arms together and toyed with my fingers nervously. "I hope that grenade finished it off. I never want to see it again."

"'It'?"

"That thing wasn't Taylor anymore."

.o0o.

Chloe and I managed to return home before nightfall. The two of us were so skittish and in a hurry to return to safety, we booked it. It helped that Brooke tagged along, she needed to restock her food store and recruit someone to assist her at her post. She left us once we arrived; she went to the food storage while Chloe and I went to explain to Wells what we saw.

His office door was open, we saw him sitting there filing his documents. Chloe entered before me, I closed the doors behind us. She leaned against his desk, her hands smacking loudly against the hardwood to gain his attention. He glowered up at her from his seat and raised a condescending brow.

"Something happen on the run that is important enough for you to bother me?" Wells droned. "I'm busy trying to recalculate rations."

"First of all, asshole," Chloe began, I sighed; always a smooth talker, that one. "Your doors were open, so if you didn't want company you could've closed them. Second, we saw something new. Something hella bad and scary."

"Well what was it?" Wells sat up a bit straighter and placed the papers he was holding on his desk.

"It was Taylor," I spoke up, wanting to avoid having my blunt friend speak any more than she had to. "She wasn't put down. We shot her in the head again but she was still after us. She was fast, and strong as hell."

"Stop calling that monster 'Taylor', that _thing_ wasn't her anymore." Chloe interjected. "It was a nightmare."

"It was her corpse though?" Wells asked, we both nodded. "I'll have some scouts sent out to look into this...unless you killed it?"

"I don't know if it's dead or not." Chloe sighed. "I threw a grenade at it but i was getting out of there too fast to stick around and see."

"I see…" Wells nodded. "Thank you, girls. I will look into that."

"Be careful who you send, we can't afford to lose anyone else. And there's a whole horde in that town, maybe twenty or thirty."

"Thank you. You two can have a few days off, looks like you got a pretty good haul and this experience seems emotionally devastating...You've earned it."

"Thanks." I muttered. My hand looped around Chloe's arm and I pulled her out of the office.

Slowly, Chloe moved her hand into mine and we lazed around campus for the first time in weeks. We dropped off our haul but i kept the flu medicine I found to myself, I was saving it for Kate. I saw Warren talking with Alyssa outside of the stock room and I asked them if they'd seen Kate around.

"I only saw her once today, she hasn't been much out of the dorm. She looked kinda bad." Warren replied.

"I know. I got her medicine, I think she's getting a stress cold." I replied. Warren nodded in agreement.

"That's nice of you, good looking out. Well, if you're going to look anywhere, I'd start with your dorm".

"Alright, thanks, Warren." I said as pleasantly as I could manage. Chloe and I sauntered out of the main building and into the dorms, it was getting dark now and the campus was quiet as most students hid in the safety of their rooms.

It was warm in the dorm, it'd been getting colder outside as the year went on.

"Chloe, go check if she's in our room, I'm gonna grab some water." I said to my walking partner, she nodded and went upstairs without a word. Chloe hadn't been the same since we got back. She looked flushed and shaky. She was probably getting sick too after living through that entire ordeal. I let out a shaky breath and went into the small storage we kept in the dorms to retrieve water bottles for the three of us and followed Chloe upstairs. I passed Victoria's room. Her door was open, she lay across her bed with a blank stare across her face. I poked my head in and knocked against her doorframe.

"Hey, Max." She said without looking at me.

"What's going on, Victoria?" I asked. She shrugged lazily and continued her staring contest with the ceiling. "...You need one of us, you can come in our room, alright?"

"Thanks, Max."

"Sure." I backed out of her room and started back on the path to mine. What was with her? Probably the same thing as everyone else. I should make sure Chloe doesn't tell her about Taylor's monster. She's already devastated that her friend is dead, she doesn't need to know that she became a nightmare on top of that. I shook my head.

"The world is going crazy." I mumbled to myself, entering my room. Chloe was knelt on the floor, Kate sat in front of her on our bed. Chloe had her hand against Kate's forehead, checking her temperature. Kate looked pale, sickly, the black rings under her eyes were more pronounced than normal. Despite her ill stature she turned and smiled at me.

"Hey, Max."

"Hey, angel." I replied, shutting the door and taking a seat beside Kate. "How are you feeling?"

"Gross." She forced a laugh. "I just feel really warm and uncomfortable."

"Well, I found some medicine while we were out. I don't know how much it will help but it's better than nothing, right?" I said and held up the bottle of flu medicine.

"Thank you, I hope it does help. I feel awful." Kate groaned. Chloe had a sad smile on her face.

"We'll take care of you. You need water, you're sweating." She said as she rose to her feet. Kate nodded obediently. I poured out the required dosage of medicine and gave it to Kate along with a water bottle. Chloe walked out to shower, leaving us alone. I felt Kate's temperature myself, feeling her neck, forehead, and cheeks.

"You're burning up." I confirmed.

"I feel weird…" Kate said worriedly, her voice shaking.

"Like how?"

"Like...I'm n-not sure. It feels really stuffy in here, like I can't breathe." Kate said, tugging at her shirt collar.

"You want to go for a walk? It's pretty nice out. And then we can grab you some food." I offered.

"Yeah...Yeah that sounds good." Kate nodded.

"Lets go, then." I held Kate's hand, the two of us padded down the halls and back into the cool night air. There were a lot more stars since the cyclone, it seemed. Kate was a bit off balance, she continuously tripped over her feet. I led her to a bench and sat her down, she thanked me with a tiny smile.

"I don't know what's wrong with me…" She worried.

"I told you, you're getting sick, Kate." I insisted. "Hopefully this'll help a little. Then we can go eat and get you in bed." Kate nodded in return, suddenly becoming very quiet. She seemed to zone out for a few minutes, just staring off at the sky. I sat beside her looking at nothing in particular and trying to avoid thinking. This was the first time I think I'd just sat down and relaxed since I was assigned to be a runner. It was nice but alien to me. I'd gotten so used to being a runner, sitting was a luxury I had forgotten. Kate's silence was beginning to get to me. I turned towards her, she hadn't moved a muscle since we sat down.

"...Kate?" She didn't move. "Kate? Are you okay?" I shook her, my hand squeezing her shoulder firmly. Kate didn't even blink. My heart clenched so tightly I almost fell over. I dropped to my knees in front of her and held her face. Her eyes seemed vacant. "Kate you're freaking me out." I nearly shouted. "Kate, _please."_ Kate's eyes turned to lock with mine disgustingly slow. She looked confused.

"Max?" She said, just hardly above a whisper.

"Kate, what was that?" I gasped.

"Max, I think something's wrong with me…" Kate's voice trembled.

"Let's go to the nurse's office, okay?"

"Okay…" Kate repeated, she said it a few more times to herself while I helped her to her feet. She practically collapsed into my arms, I had to be her crutch to the clinic. Her breathing was ragged, she sounded like she was straining to get air in her lungs.

We busted into the nurse's office, i recognized the faces of Warren and Victoria when we entered. They seemed to have been having a discussion quietly in the corner the took a few steps apart from one another when Kate and I entered.

"Max? Kate? What's going on?" Victoria barked.

"Something's wrong with Kate." I answered, leading Kate to a bed. Kate looked scared and confused.

"M-Max I-" Her eyelids fluttered and her eyes rolled back into her skull. She sounded like she was choking as her body tensed and writhed, her arms and legs shaking violently. Her whole body convulsed.

"Oh my god, Kate?!" I screamed. I went to reach for her but Warren intercepted me, pulling me away from her.

"She looks like she's having a seizure." Warren said, trying to remain calm "Don't hold her down, you could break her bones. She just needs to ride it out."

"We can't do anything?" I asked, gripping his shoulders. Kate's body looked possessed, spasming uncontrollably. Victoria was cowering in the corner with her hands over her mouth. She looked terrified. Kate was moaning in pain and choking on her spit. I wanted to help, I needed to help her; she was suffering. "Warren we have to do something!" I pressed.

"Max, if we do anything it's more likely to hurt her." Warren insisted, holding me back. Almost instantly, Kate stilled and her eyes closed. Everyone seemed to freeze. Eventually, Warren released me. He and I rushed to her side.

"Turn her over, onto her side."' He instructed. I followed his orders and helped him roll Kate sideways. She was facing him now, seemingly unconscious. Warren opened her mouth and looked inside.

"Someone grab me a tongue depressor, _now."_ He sounded like a doctor in one of those old soaps on tv. I was quick to fill his request and grabbed one of the oversized popsicle sticks from a glass jar off a counter. Giving it to Warren, he inserted it into Kate's mouth, moving her tongue from her airway. "What the hell?" He asked no one in particular.

"What is it Warren? That isn't what I want to hear." I questioned fearfully, kneading my hands.

"Well, it's gonna get worse." Warren sighed, standing up straight. "I have no clue what's going on with her."

"What do you mean?" Victoria spoke from behind her hands.

"Her throat, it's like it has a black rash all over the inside." Warren told us. "It almost looks like the symptoms of someone whose been bitten, but Kate doesn't even have a scratch on her."

"I don't understand, how can that be?" Victoria asked, stepping forward. Warren shrugged deeply.

"I don't have a clue. That's the only way we've seen someone get infected before. Do you have any ideas Max? She's been with you the last few days, you'd've noticed. The effects start pretty early on." Warren questioned, turning his attention to me. My thoughts raced back to Kate's encounters the last few days.

"Taylor." I blurted before I knew what I was saying. Victoria cringed Immediately and turned her eyes to the floor.

"Max, I swear to god-" she began.

"No, Victoria, Kate told me she got Taylor's blood in her mouth. Maybe that's the reason?" I speculated. "She started running a fever almost as soon as we got back." Warren considered it, he nodded slightly.

"It's possible." He groaned. "We'll keep her in here and try to see if we can slow or stop the spread of the virus but...only a handful of people recovered, and it's because they were bitten and had their limbs amputated."

"We're going to fix this." I said sternly. Neither Victoria or Warren had the heart to argue with me. They both accepted my desperate and blind hope. I was a fool. But I was a hopeful one.

"I'll look for epilepsy medication to help her seizures. Don't give her anything, Max." Warren said, walking out of the room. I knelt on the floor beside Kate, my hand went to her cheek. She was covered with sweat and positively burning up. Victoria put a hand on my shoulder, I turned to look up at her. She had a look in her eye that I couldn't quite explain; it looked fearful.

"Max, what if-"

" _No._ No. We're not going down that route." I shook my head, turning back to the sleeping angel before me. "She's going to be okay."

"...Alright, Max." Victoria backed down. She pulled a stool up and sat beside us. I felt her hand snake over my shoulder and give it a gentle squeeze, my hand felt for hers and returned the gesture. I was so stupid. We fell silent, just watching Kate breathe. As long as she was breathing it was okay.

It's going to be okay, Max. Warren is going to find some medicine and run some of his crazy tests and fix it all...

Hopeful dumbass.

I started crying at Kate's bedside, my tears dampening her sheets. Victoria sunk to the floor to hug me, I buried my face into her neck and sobbed.

"She has to be okay, Victoria! I don't know what I'd do..." I sobbed. She didn't say anything back but squeezed me tighter. Victoria tolerated me blubbering on her neck for a good few minutes. Slowly, I pulled away, thinking she was probably on the verge of bitching at me. I saw her eyes were puffy, had she been crying too?

"I'm going to go tell Chloe, okay?" She told me softly, I released her with a fragile nod. She rose and hurried out of the room, did I see her wipe away a tear? I turned my eyes back to Kate. The poor thing was still out cold, but alive. Still right here, my sweet Kate.

"Don't you try to quit on me now..." I mumbled to her. "Not after all we've been through." I returned my hand to her cheek and ran my thumb against her face. "Please wake up, Kate."

My ears picked up the echoing sound of someone sprinting barefoot down the hallway. As the footfalls approached I turned to face the door. Nearly slipping and falling on her face, Chloe bursted into the room with her wet hair plastered to her face and her clothes nearly soaked through. She looked like she ran straight from the shower, only stopping to throw on a t-shirt and sleeping shorts. Her eyes were wide with worry.

"What happened to Kate? Is she okay?" Chloe asked loudly as she stumbled into the room.

"Warren said she had a seizure and..." Chloe's eyes scanned Kate protectively, then she turned to me with fear.

"And?"

"...and she might be turning." I sobbed. Chloe ran her hands through her hair. She let out a deep breath and glared up at the ceiling. She paced around the room with agitation, bouncing a little on each step and rocking side to side.

"No." She denied. "There's no way she could be-"

"She got Taylor's blood in her mouth, Chloe." I fought back. Chloe looked so hurt.

"No way..." She barely said above a whisper. "Max what if she becomes whatever Taylor turned into? Everyone here will be murdered!"

"It's not gonna fucking happen, Chloe! Drop it, no one needs to hear." I scolded. I didn't want Victoria to know what became of her old friend. Chloe's frustration was boiling over.

"What the fuck are we going to do, Max?!"

"We're going to deal, Chloe!"

Why were we fighting again? It'd been happening more and more.

"Well I _can't_ deal, Max!" She shouted in return. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Dana, Juliet, Warren, and Victoria entering the clinic.

"Fighting isn't going to help Kate, it's just going to stress her out more."

"Well I'm fucking stressed out too!" Chloe continued. "I haven't slept in _days!_ I stay awake until my body _collapses_ , and even after that I wake up from nightmares because all I can see is _Taylor!"_

"Chloe that is _enough."_ Victoria barks. Chloe bites her tongue, wanting to keep fighting, but she knows arguing with Victoria about Taylor would end in a fist fight; we already have enough people down for the count. Dana stepped forward and put a soft hand on Chloe's shoulder.

"Let's go Chloe, we'll get you some sleeping pills and in bed, alright?" She cooed.

"Yeah okay...Thanks." Chloe breathed. Chloe trudged along beside Dana. "How's the baby?" I heard Chloe ask as they rounded the corner. Dana had been pregnant a few weeks before the disaster, she was about seven months along now and was showing; she was carrying the baby very high, she'd begun hoping for a little girl because of that. I worried for her, and for her baby, in this apocalypse.

Juliet, Warren, and Victoria walked in the room and closed the door behind them. Warren had a nervous look on his face; he had more bad news.

"What is it?" I asked him.

"We don't have any medication to help her seizures." He told me. "We have to run to find some for her."

"I'm not leaving her, and Chloe is in no condition to-"

"Victoria and Juliet volunteered to run." Warren interjected. I cast my eyes to them, Juliet gave me a smile, faint and sad, while Victoria turned her eyes away. "The only thing is that Wells won't approve the run unless he knows what it's for."

"If he finds out about Kate he'll have her kicked out- or killed!" I argued.

"He might not, since this is a new type of infection. Maybe we can find a way to medicate it, find some sort of cure." Warren insisted. It was such a far-fetched thing to be hoping for. It was such a tiny possibility to be praying for.

"Okay. Tell Wells. She needs help, desperately." I approved, reluctantly. "We have five days to find a treatment, every second is crucial. We have to save, Kate."

.o0o.

It was the first night of waiting. I hadn't left Kate's side since I brought her in here hours ago. I had hardly slept, each time I dozed off I woke up with the violent images of Taylor mauling Chloe and even worse; what Kate might become. I'd be thrown back into reality, panting and sweating, my vision blurred. Kate was here, she was fine, she was okay. I'm okay. It's okay. Again, I watched Kate. She had been sleeping for hours and I was concerned she might not wa-

No, she's going to wake up, Max. It's alright. I was startled when Warren slumped into the room, just as tired as I was. He gave me a warm smile.

"Hi, Max." He cooed.

"Hey." I replied. I noticed a stack of paper in his hands, he was flipping through them as he made his way to his desk. "What's that?" I questioned, jerking my chin towards the papers.

"Oh these?" He slapped the papers down on the desk with a groan. "Stock of the medicine we have. I'm reviewing it just in case there's something we can give, Kate."

"Do you want some help?" I asked, sitting up a bit straighter.

"Nah, that's okay. I know you want to be beside her." Warren said with a knowing smile. I felt my cheeks flush and turned back to Kate. I sighed, gripping her wrist.

"I just want her to wake up, Warren."

"We all do, Max." Warren mused sadly. "We all do."

I felt Kate's pulse beneath my thumb, calm and slow.

"Wake up, Kate." I whispered. "I need you."

The nurse's office was silent aside from Warren cycling through papers. After a few minutes, a new sound joined the shuffling of documents, Kate was at last starting to stir from her sleep; she let out tiny pained moans as her eyes opened. Her hands moved sluggishly to cover her eyes, she cringed.

"Why is it so bright in here...? Max, what happened?" Kate asked groggily, her throat raspy and dry.

"Oh Kate, I was so scared; you had a seizure and you've been asleep for hours." I exclaimed. Kate cried out in pain and covered her ears.

"Why are you shouting? Wh-why is it so bright in here Max? It hurts." Kate whined quietly, squeezing her eyes closed and pressing her ears closed. My brow furrowed in confusion, I turned to look at the only light on in the office: a small dim desk lamp beside Warren. It was nowhere near bright, and I was anything but shouting. Warren lurched from his seat to examine Kate. I shifted from my spot beside her so he had space.

"How do you feel Kate?" Warren whispered while prying Kate's hand's away from her head. She pulled away from him and rubbed her wrists where he grabbed her.

"D-don't touch me, it feels- I don't know. Just don't, please." Kate practically begged. Warren chewed his lip and pawed back to his desk.

"Max," he beckoned me closer, I obeyed and rose from my seat. He came close to my ear and spoke lowly. "Max this is the symptom of the third day."

"What's happening?" I questioned worriedly, my eyes turning back to Kate. She was rocking back and forth with her arms wrapped around herself.

"Day three is marked with hypersensitivity and hyperactivity." Warren continued to explain. "She's going to be a little..." Kate feverishly toyed with her hair, her rocking intensifying, and blinked hard. "A little off. You should take her out again for a walk, burn off the energy."

"You sure she's gonna be alright outside?" I asked.

"She'll stay with you, there's nothing to worry about. Try to walk her around the grounds for a few minutes then bring her back in and we can feed her." Warren encouraged and pushed me towards Kate. I neared her cautiously, she looked feral and afraid. Her eyes reflected the fragile light of the lamp much like a cat's would she faced me stiffly and warily.

"C'mon, Kate, we're going to go for a little walk, okay?" I held my hand out to her, she eyed it for a moment before threading her fingers into mine. Kate seemed uncomfortable but climbed out of bed and walked hand in hand with me. She seemed a lot more at ease in the dark hallway. I could hardly see however. As my eyes adjusted and we wandered outside, I was able to see Kate in the darkness. Kate flapped her free hand in the air and bobbed her head slightly as we walked. She took uneven steps, stumbling around and tripping. Her eyes darted around to any source of movement; a shrub rustling in the faint breeze or a bug flying towards a light.

"How do you feel, Kate?" I asked gently. Kate didn't answer, she hummed slightly as a response but never gave me any words. Kate pointed off towards the fence separating our school from the forest. "What is it?" Kate pointed more and pulled herself from my grip. She bounded off clumsily like a young deer towards the fence. "Kate, wait!" I exclaimed, chasing after her. She cringed at the volume of my voice but pressed onwards to the fence. She picked up speed, sprinting faster than I'd ever seen her run before. Kate collided with the fencing, she reached her arms through a hole in an attempt to reach something unbeknownst to me. I feared for her safety, she could attract dead and get bitten; who knows what that would do to her already decaying condition. "Kate, stop!" I almost begged and pulled Kate away from the fence. Kate turned and shoved me back.

 _"Don't touch me!"_ She screamed. "I need to get out of here, _now!"_

"Kate, you're acting crazy, we need to get you back inside!" I grabbed her again and dragged her away from the fence. She struggled but eventually started to use her weight to keep me from pulling her, like a toddler throwing a tantrum. Kate started to cry and moan like a child as well, she desperately tried to free herself but she has become weak after her sprint to the fence. Kate flailed and kicked while I pulled her all the way back inside, I was desperate to get her back to Warren. She had given up for the most part once we were back inside.

"Warren!" I shouted. "Warren, _please!"_

The boy answered my prayers, running out of the office in a panic, he grabbed Kate's legs and helped pick her up off the sleek tile. Kate landed a kick in Warren's gut; I heard the collision, that would definitely bruise. Kate was slipping from our grasp, her skin slick with sweat. I was surprised to see Dana in the infirmary when we returned. She looked just as surprised to see us hauling Kate in by her limbs. Dana gasped and moved out of our path, letting us place Kate back in her bed. Almost as soon as she was back on the cot, she began to seize again.

"No! Kate!" I cried pointlessly.

"What is happening to her?" Dana questioned fearfully, her eyes looking to me for answers.

"She's having a seizure, you might not want to watch." Warren told her, but he turned both of us away. "They start to get really bad after the initial day."

I couldn't move my eyes from her thrashing body. The entire bed was shaking, her body blurred with the speed she trembled. The sounds she had been making were unholy, they got under my skin. Her choking, gagging, frothing. Warren and Dana both spoke to me but I didn't register what they said. All I knew was Dana had pulled me out into the hall and away from Kate.

"No I need to be in there, I have to help her, Dana." I rambled, but Dana held me firmly and looked down at me with serious eyes.

"Max you're running yourself ragged." She told me. "When was the last time you ate?" When it took me more than a minute to answer, Dana started to shake her head and lead me towards the food stock within the cafeteria. I let out a breath I didn't know I was holding. Dana ruffled my hair gently and smiled sheepishly at me. I returned the grin. My eyes were drawn her baby bump.

"How have you been? How's the baby?" I asked, wanting to keep my mind as busy as possible. Dana's eyes seemed to smile as she gazed down at her belly. She cradled her future child and giggled slightly.

"Oh just a pain. Little Bit has been kicking a lot lately." She cooed, her voice thick with endearment. "But we're managing."

"Still no names in mind?" I questioned as we entered the cafeteria.

"No, not yet." Dana sighed. "Still Little Bit for now, haha." A tiny chuckle escaped me. Dana looked beautiful with her baby. It's like she was glowing.

.o0o.

Dana and I sat together and shared the rations I had neglected to eat for dinner. Shortly after, she and I returned to the infirmary to find Kate and Warren chatting quietly. Kate was a lot more mellow now, she was covered up to her neck with a blanket and seemed very lethargic. Her words strung together as she greeted us.

"Heeeeyyyyyyyyy Maaaaaax." She chuckled.

"Warren did you drug her? I swear to god-" I growled at the dork seated beside my angel.

"I _tranquilized_ her yeah, they're still taking effect. I was trying to see if it'd help the seizures, don't you get mad at me." Warren bickered back.

"Why would you think that was a good idea?" I argued.

"My nearly broken ribs, perhaps?" He continued. I rolled my eyes at him and scoffed. Warren sighed to calm himself. He gestured for us to leave. "You can go, I'll watch her."

"Not after this you're not. I'm staying." I retorted and walked to Kate's bedside, glaring at him.

"Max, you need to sleep." Dana interjected.

"I can sleep here." I fought, leaning over Kate's bedside and draping my arms over her legs. Kate's hand melted into my hair, she toyed with it dreamily.

"Fine, Max." Dana barked. "Run yourself even more ragged." With that, the brunette turned on her heel and left. Warren let out a yawn and a groan while making his way back to his desk. Kicking his feet up, he gave me a somewhat disappointed look.

"I'm playing doctor, so I'm staying." He said.

"Fine."

"Fine."

.o0o.

Somehow, I slept the few hours of night left only to be awoken by the fragile, frightened voice of Kate.

"Max, _Max!"_

"Huh, what?" I shot up like a rocket, I instantly recoiled in pain; being slumped over for a whole night will break your back. I ignored my own pain and looked up to Kate. Her blankets were pulled close to her neck, her body seemed stiff beneath it. "Kate? Kate, what's wrong?" I asked.

"Max, I can't move, I can't feel my hands or my feet." Kate said frantically.

"I'm gonna look at them, okay?" I checked with her before pulling her blankets away, she gave me a small nod of approval. I flipped back the blankets and gasped when I saw her hands. They had gone black. "Hooooly crap." I blurted before I could stop myself. Kate looked down at her hands in horror and let out a fearful yelp, startling Warren from his sleep at his desk and sending him tumbling to the floor.

"What? What happened? What is it?" He shouted from the ground behind his desk.

"Her hands!" I responded. Warren scrambled to his feet and approached swiftly.

"Oh man..." Warren mumbled in a high pitched voice, his hands fumbling with one of Kate's. I remembered she said she couldn't feel her feet either, so I removed the rest of the blankets from her legs and saw her feet had taken on the same deep blackish hue.

"Holy shit..." I muttered, unable to stop myself.

"Wh-what's happening to me?" Kate asked, the fear practically glowing in her eyes. I tentatively felt her foot, it was dead cold. Her toes were like rubber, numb to the touch.

"It's the symptom of the fourth day." Warren began to explain but he was cut short with the sudden entrance of Juliet and Victoria, both of them ragged from their run. Juliet dumped an armful of pill bottles on Warren's desk and looked up at him expectantly while Victoria eyed Kate's blackened extremities in horror.

"Warren, what happened? How long has she been like this? Kate does it hurt? Warren you'd better find some fucking medicine in that pile _right. Now."_ She barked, not letting us get a word in edgewise. Warren opened his mouth to speak but closed it quickly after and started to dig through the pills with Victoria chewing his ass. Juliet excused herself, looking tired and dirty, to go clean up and search for Dana.

"Can someone _please_ tell me what's happening?!" Kate screamed, gaining Warren's attention again. He angrily threw the pill bottles he was holding back down on the desk and breathed. Once he managed to calm down he turned back to Kate.

"Kate, you'll be okay in a few hours. You'll get your feeling back but...your hands and feet are probably going to keep looking like that and-" he paused, something on her caught his eye. "Don't freak out, okay?" He cooed, coming closer and pulling her shirt collar down away from her neck. It was just as blackened as her hands and feet. "Shit." He whimpered. Kate was crying again, unable to move to wipe away her own tears.

"Shh, shh, baby it's going to be okay." I cooed to Kate and thumbed her tears away. "We're going to have you alright again soon."

Victoria practically shoved Warren out of the way to be beside Kate and give her a hug. Kate looked somewhat surprised but was grateful for the embrace. Victoria pulled away, clearly upset, and started out of the room.

"I'm going to get Chloe." She declared and sprinted out. Warren growled to himself.

"None of this is what we need." He said bitterly. _"Damn it!_ " He hammered his fist on the desk, refusing to look at Kate and I. It only made Kate cry harder. I took a seat beside her once more and held her hand in mine. Tears rolled down my cheeks and across Kate's knuckles as I planted soft kisses across her cold fingers. It seemed to relax her a little, but she still sobbed in the abrupt silence that followed the shouting just moments before. The sound of running echoed in the hall, much like the night before. Just like last night, Chloe appeared in the doorway, disheveled from restless sleep. Victoria followed behind her. Chloe bounded into the room, tears forming in her crystal blue eyes when she saw what was happening to Kate. She rushed to cradle Kate close, a tight bear hug.

 _"I'm so sorry baby."_ Chloe sobbed in the crook of her neck. "I'm so sorry. This is my fault, if I had done something else, something sooner; if I payed attention-"

"It's not your fault, it's okay." Kate cried back. I could tell she wanted to hug her back but her weak body prevented her from doing so. Chloe pulled away to cup her face in her hands and plant apologetic kisses all over her face. Very briefly their lips met, and I smiled. Back before all of this, Kate probably wouldn't have become a part of what Chloe and I are. It's one good thing that came out of this. They parted and Chloe showered me with affection, apologizing softly as she kissed my cheeks. Chloe sat beside me with her shoulders drooped and her head buried childishly in the crook of my neck. I held her close and returned her kisses.

"We're going to figure this out." I assured. "We have to."

.o0o.

Day five came and went. Juliet and Victoria departed once more in search of medications while Warren and I stayed with Kate like the days prior. She could move again, her hands and feet felt tingly, she said. But she was up and moving again. Chloe paced the grounds with us. She was helping me handle Kate when she got too excited or threatened to have another seizure. Kate was twitchy, her eyes followed whatever she saw moving around her; I had to stop her from trying to bolt through the fence again. After dragging her back inside from her second escape attempt, I asked Warren what the hell that was.

"It's her hunting instinct." He explained. "She's growing to have the need to track prey."

I couldn't find a sentence to reply with, or even a follow up question. I just turned to watch her interacting with Chloe. She seemed so off yet so normal. She smiled, laughed, and talked with Chloe. But all the while she was eyeing the door, picking at her nails, and having sudden spasms. It was so confusing and so unfair. My sweet Kate.

Warren had been speaking about how she hadn't shown the fifth symptom, it gave us a false hope. Shortly after he said that however, she exhibited it. The poor girl hurled what little food she had inside her all over Chloe and refused to eat anything afterwords. She just curled back up in bed after apologizing to a disgusted Chloe and tried not to vomit again, though she did inevitably later on that night. She was beginning to wear thin.

.o0o.

It was the dawn of the sixth day, and I was feeling the panic. Kate could be gone soon, we needed a treatment; we needed a cure now. Warren had been experimenting with medications but none of them seemed to slow the process of her turning. Sure, they helped with symptoms, but nothing halted the virus.

Chloe, Dana, and I were walking Kate around the school grounds, as per Warren's instruction. Kate was quiet today, much quieter than usual, it was beginning to scare me. I think Chloe noticed it too, but she didn't dare voice any sort of discomfort around Kate; it'd only upset Kate more.

We paused at a bench near the fence, Kate stood at the fence and peered through the openings with curiosity while the rest of us sat on the bench. Dana let out a small surprised noise and placed her hand on her stomach.

"Everything okay?" Chloe asked warily.

"The baby's kicking, really hard too, agh." Dana hissed as she rubbed her stomach. Her eyes went up to meet Chloe's. "Do you want to feel?"

"Uh, sure." Chloe seemed a bit flattered at the offer and agreed. Dana took Chloe's hand and placed it low on her bloated belly. A bewildered smile lit up Chloe's face.

"Wow." She gasped. "You've got a little fighter in there."

"Yes I do." Dana laughed. She turned to me then, her eyes genuinely overjoyed. "Did you want to feel, Max?"

"Sure, Dana." Just like Chloe, Dana took my hand and guided it along her abdomen. I felt the slight movement just beneath her skin of the tiny person inside her. It was beautiful to see life in a world of death. "That's amazing." I breathed, a smile gracing me as well.

"Can I feel?" Kate's voice suddenly asked from above us. I hadn't even noticed her standing so closely to us, when did she get there?

"Of course you can." Dana grinned. "Give me your hand." Kate smiled sheepishly and placed her blackened digits in Dana's. For the third time, Dana guided a hand across her stomach to where the baby was. Kate was in awe.

"What a wonderful gift from God." She cooed. "She's strong, like you."

"Thank you, Kate." Dana said. "That's so sweet." Kate smiled and retracted her hand to wander back towards the fence. Dana cringed again from the baby's aggravated movements. She was doubled over in pain, I gripped her shoulder out of concern.

"Dana, are you alright?" I asked.

"Yeah." She gasped. "I'm just going to head inside for a while, until Little Bit calms down."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Chloe offered as Dana began to waddle away

"No, no. I'll be fine. Keep an eye on Kate." Dana insisted.

"Okay." Chloe replied though her concern was obvious. She let out a sigh and scooted closer to me. Her arm snaked around my shoulders and a kiss landed on my cheek. The two of us watched Kate in silence. Kate was feverishly glancing through holes in the wall while kneading her hands together. I felt Chloe's lips against my ear.

 _"I'm so fucking scared, Max."_ She whispered in a trembling voice. "I'm scared we're going to lose Kate."

I swallowed hard, my own fear just as profane as hers.

"Me too." I agreed.

"What if this is our last day with her?" Chloe asked.

"Don't say that-"

"Don't avoid it, Max." Chloe looked at me with piercing eyes, though I kept my gaze trained on Kate. _"What if this is our last day with Kate?"_ I watched the innocent girl rocking side to side, she was antsy, almost scared.

"We'd better make sure she knows how much we love her." I responded firmly.

I pushed Chloe off of me and got to my feet. I paced over to Kate and put my hand in hers, she looked at me confusedly, her eyes burning with fear. "Let's go inside, Kate."

"Okay." She agreed shakily. Instead of leading Kate to the clinic I steered her towards the dorms. She went along with it without protest. Chloe soon caught up with us and held Kate's other hand.

"Let's just go hang out in my room for a bit." I sighed. "We can pretend everything is like normal."

"Yeah, like normal." Kate repeated with a smile.


	4. Life is Quick

**Forgive any typos, I was writing this at 5 am last night...this morning? Whatever.**

.o0o.

Chloe and I sat on the floor while Kate was perched on my bed beside us. I had pulled a shoebox out from beneath the bed and showed its contents to the girls beside me.

"Wow, are these all your old pictures?" Chloe gasped, grabbing a few old polaroids from the box and examining them.

"Yep. Back when the world made a bit more sense." I chuckled and took out a few photos. Many were just random shots of nature or scenery but a few were of us. I found one that I didn't remember taking; it was Kate and I, we were asleep and slumped over each other in the seat of Chloe's car.

"Chloe, did you take this?" I asked, laughing slightly. Chloe examined it and started to chuckle as well.

"Yeah I did. You two just looked so cute. That was after we saw that awful movie at the drive in." Chloe told us.

"I remember that night!" Kate exclaimed after looking at the photo. "It was Valentine's Day, we went out to see that terrible romance flick."

"That weird guy in the car next to us kept looking over-" I recalled.

"-And I got out and hit his window a few times and it broke-" Chloe continued laughing maniacally.

"And then we were asked to leave and we had to patch up your hand." Kate giggled.

"We just drove around for the rest of the night…" I reminisced, staring at the photo longingly. We looked through more photos together, the three of us laughing and holding each other. Somehow, over the course of an hour or so, Kate had moved to the floor and was curled up between Chloe and I. We were rifling through the polaroids when we stumbled upon one we all recognized. It was the first picture we took as an item, the three of us together.

"Oh my god, do you remember this?" I whispered. Kate took the photo in fragile, blackened fingers and held it for all of us to look at. Neither of them answered, both of them remembered this moment fondly and all the awkward little moments behind it.

.o0o.

"Chloe this is Kate, she's one of my best friends. Kate this is my girlfriend, Chloe." I introduced the two most important girls in my life to each other not knowing that we would become even more in a few weeks time. Chloe and Kate greeted each other, it was a bit more formal than I expected of Chloe but exactly what I thought Kate would do; they shook hands. But when they touched there was an odd feeling in the air around us. Was I jealous? No, no way. I love Chloe with all my heart and...yeah I like Kate too...Why did I do this to myself?

"Nice to meet you." Kate said sweetly. Chloe seemed unable to process her cute remark as fast as she needed to and took a moment to reply with a flustered, "You too."

The three of us were at the Two Whales for breakfast. I had slept at Chloe's house the night before and wanted to grab a bite before school, and as fate would have it, Kate asked to grab breakfast the same morning. So there we were, the three of us sat in a booth with coffee and tea in hand and groggy morning conversation filling the air around us. Chloe cleared her throat awkwardly, she was gripping her mug as if her life depended on it.

"So, Kate," She started. "I, uh, I really like your hair."

"Thank you, that's so sweet." Kate flushed a little and tucked a stray hair behind her ear. "I like yours too. I'd never be able to pull off something like that…"

"Maybe blue isn't the right color. You seem more like...a pink." I saw Chloe wink at me out of the corner of my eye, I was compelled to rewind but I just stuck with burying my face in my hands.

"My parents would probably disown me if I ever dyed my hair." Kate giggled, missing Chloe's innuendo.

"Chloe oh my god." I mumbled just loud enough for her to hear. She kicked me under the table with a dopey grin on her face and continued talking to Kate.

"Max talks about you all the time," Chloe continued. "She said you're in photography with her?"

"Oh yeah, I am. It's really nice but not my favorite class." Kate replied. "I'm more into musical arts...Max talks about you a lot too. You seem like a walking party."

"That is a title I can agree with." Chloe chuckled. "But I also respond to 'hey, asshole!' and 'that lesbian'."

Kate laughed, she hid her mouth behind a delicate hand and tried to quiet her giggling. Chloe and I followed suit, laughing along with her. It was amazing, I wanted every day to be like this. But part of it hurt. I was with Chloe, and Kate was my friend...yet I cared so much for both of them.

There was a day long after the three of us began hanging out regularly that I decided to tell Chloe about my feelings towards Kate.

It was just Chloe and I, alone in her room after she picked me up from school. I had collapsed on her bed, tired from a long day, while Chloe turned up some music and lit up a blunt. She settled on a song, which one I don't remember, and danced her way to the bed. Chloe huddled up beside me, she offered me the blunt. I sighed, I needed a little confidence boost. I took it and tried to take a drag but ended up coughing and shoving it back into her hands. She laughed at me.

"Hippie."

I sighed, tears fogging my eyes from the coughing. I sat up and leaned against Chloe to lay kisses along her jaw. She grinned but her expression changed to concern when she looked at me. "Are you alright, Max?"

"Chloe, I have something to tell you." I breathed. Chloe looked avoidant but like she wanted to know as well. She sat up a bit straighter and took a silent drag, signaling for me to continue. "It's about Kate…" She raised a brow. "...I like her too. I like both of you."

"You too?!" Chloe shouted. I was so thrown off by her response that I just sort of thought I had been hot-boxed and this was all a hallucination.

"What?"

"I like Kate too! She's so fucking cute I just wanna squeeze her! But I didn't say anything because I didn't know if it would upset you or something- This is great!" Chloe was practically cheering, she pulled me into a tight hug and a hot kiss but I pulled back.

"Wait, wait wait wait, wait. Wait." I gripped her shoulders sternly. "What are we going to do about this?"

"Tell her." Chloe shrugged.

"Chloe, it took you, like, a year to admit that you liked me. What makes you think this will be easier?"

"I have you by my side." She replied simply.

Damn, that was sweet.

"But we don't even know if she'll say yes. She's a pretty conservative Christian."

"Yeah, a conservative Christian who I've caught checking you out." Chloe retorted.

"What? Her? Me? Shut up."

"Swear to god." Chloe jested with a hand over her heart. "She looks at you, and then gets really aware she's looking at you, and looks away blushing hella hard."

"Shut up." I refused to believe but I could feel myself smiling, I gave chloe a playful shove and reclined back on her bed. "Well...I guess we could see...I don't want to ruin our friendship, Kate is really important to me."

"If anything goes wrong, you can rewind, right?" Chloe smiled. I shrugged.

"I'd feel bad though, because I'd know."

"You have your own do over button, use it Max."

"...Alright."

It was the next day that we planned to ask Kate. Chloe was waiting outside of Blackwell to pick us up, she was leaning casually against her truck. I could see her tension though, the way she continuously puffed on her cigarette. Her cigarette was barely half smoked, yet when we approached she put it out with the heel of her boot against the asphalt. Chloe gave us both hugs and the three of us packed into the truck with Kate snuggled between us. The air was thick with tension. Kate seemed as uneasy as Chloe and I, I wondered what was wrong. She was biting her lip and picking at her fingers, she always did that when she was overthinking.

"Are you okay?" I asked her gently, she jumped slightly at my sudden question.

"Oh, yes, I-I-I'm fine. I just zoned out for a minute." She forced a laugh and a smile; Kate was a terrible liar. That's probably why she rarely does it. I think she knew I could tell she was fibbing but I dropped it and went back to gazing at the sky. I wasn't as religious as Kate, but I was praying. Praying she would say yes.

Chloe pulled in to her driveway, the three of us went inside like we always did, though the mood was off. Joyce seemed to notice when we entered that we weren't as exuberant as usual.

"Hey girls...somethin' the matter?" She asked, her sweet country twang full of concern.

"Just got some stuff to talk about." Chloe answered, sauntering past her mom to retrieve sodas from the fridge. Kate poked her head in the kitchen and gave Joyce a small wave.

"Hi, Mrs. Price." She greeted.

"Hello sweetheart, how are you?" Joyce gushed.

"I'm good, how are you?" The two of them made idle chit chat, Chloe took the opportunity to pull me aside and run through the game plan.

"So if it doesn't work out, rewind to right now, if you can, and tell me okay?" Chloe said.

"Okay."

"Wait, 'okay' she said yes or 'okay' I'll tell you?" Chloe questioned confusedly. I laughed at her.

"'Okay' I'll tell you." I clarified. "Now let's go." My hand gently wrapped around Kate's arm, she paused her conversation to see what I wanted; I responded with the jerk of my chin towards the stairs.

"Oh, okay. Sorry Joyce; they're stealing me." Kate apologized, Joyce waved her hand frivolously.

"Don't worry about it, y'all go have fun. But not too much fun, Chloe!"

"Mom, oh my god, please."

Kate and I laughed at Chloe's discomfort while we retreated to the secrecy of Chloe's room. Chloe caught up with us to unlock her bedroom door. Her room was startlingly clean for once.

"Wow, I can see your floor." Kate teased. Chloe smiled from behind her soda.

"Only for you will I make the effort to clean my room."

"Not even me?" I feigned hurt and out my hand to my heart.

"You love my mess." Chloe jabbed back. "More for you to weasel through."

"Ouch. But accurate." I couldn't help but laugh back. I seated myself on Chloe's bed, Kate joined me while Chloe sat on the floor in front of us. Chloe looked up at me, I could read it in her eyes; it was go time.

"So, um, Kate." I began, turning to face the innocent girl. "Chloe and I need to ask you, or well, tell you something."

"What is it? You both have seemed so serious this whole time." Kate asked with a hint of worry. "You're not mad at me, are you?"

"No!" Chloe exclaimed, startling us. She cleared her throat and reclined. "The opposite really."

"What do you mean?" Kate shook her head in confusion.

"Kate, all of us have been friends for a while now, and Chloe and I really, really like having you around." I went on. "So much that, well, we want you around...all the time."

"What are you saying?"

"Chloe and I both like you, Kate." I blurted. "We want to know if you'd be interested in becoming a part of us...In a relationship with us."

Kate's eyes widened, her face flushed, and she covered her mouth in shock with her hands. She stared at me, then stared at Chloe. Chloe gave her a warm and hopeful smile.

"Really?" Kate asked, her voice wavering on the edge of crying. Chloe nodded, her brows arched with concern. Kate sniffled and rubbed her eye with her sleeve. "That's so sweet. I'm so overwhelmed." She smiled through happy tears, but her eyes contained a flurry of emotions.

"So? What do you say?" I pressed.

"I...I can't just go against what I've been taught." Kate sighed. "My parents would kill me, and the rest of the church would-"

"But what do you want, Kate?" Chloe interrupted. Kate stopped in her tracks, her mouth agape. Her jaw shuddered as she tried to find the words, she blinked and glanced towards the floor. She bit her lip, thinking. Slowly she closed her eyes and began to nod. Her gorgeous blue eyes opened again, focusing on Chloe with a wide smile.

"I want you." She proclaimed, her gaze went to me. "Both of you. I want to be happy with you."

I couldn't stop myself from throwing my arms around Kate and squeezing her into a tight hug. Chloe's warm arms followed suit. The three of us sat there in a happy, crying, laughing pile, as a happy threesome. I never wanted to forget that moment. I was the first to break the hug, but only to grab my camera. Chloe and Kate understood what I wanted and snuggled with me with glistening smiles. I held the camera up, aiming it down at all of us. Then I took the picture.

.o0o.

I looked over at Chloe and Kate. Kate was crying, but smiling. Chloe looked like she was hurting. I leaned in to give Kate a kiss on her wet cheeks, she seemed grateful. She handed the photograph back to me and I sat it back down in the pile. We continued to rummage for more. This time, it was Chloe who found a piece of our history.

"Oh man." She half sighed, half laughed. "I remember this." Kate covered her mouth in laughter, and so did I.

"That night was terrifying." I gushed. "But it was hilarious."

.o0o.

"Maxipad, Hun Bun, wake up." Chloe's voice droned in my ear. I sat up slowly in the pitch darkness of Chloe's bedroom, like so many nights before, and glared at her moonlit face. Kate, who was snuggled into me, rolled over to glower at Chloe as well. "Get up, we're going out." Chloe insisted, giving my thigh a few smacks.

Groggily, I turned to consult a clock.

"Chloe, it's three in the fucking morning." I slurred angrily.

"I know. Get up." Chloe was unusually hyper, almost annoyingly alert.

"Are you high?" Kate asked defeatedly.

"Not even a little bit. Get up, get up, get up!"

"Whyyyy?" I growled, snuggling back in bed with Kate.

"Because we-" Chloe paused to pull Kate by her ankles towards the edge of the bed. She was too tired to fight back as Chloe picked her up bridal style. "-are going to go be crazy teenagers."

I huffed and groaned as Chloe waltzed around the room, swinging Kate about like a moron. Kate woke up a bit more and started laughing.

I caved and slumped out of bed to open Chloe's room door. Chloe hopped out happily and started as quietly and carefully she could down the stairs. I followed to open the front door for the girls. It was a bit cold out, what with the three of us in nothing but our pajamas and the cool coast air flooding out senses. Chloe sat Kate down to start her truck, the three of us clambered in together and huddled for heat.

"Chloe what the hell are we-"

"Shh, shh, shh." Chloe cut me off and out her finger to her lips. "Just go with the flow, hippie."

I let out a defeated sigh and relaxed into the worn seat of Chloe's truck. Kate's thigh rubbed against mine, she was covered in goosebumps. She shivered quietly. I wrapped an arm around her and pulled her closer. She let out a tiny hum in thanks and burrowed into the nape of my neck. I pressed a kiss to her forehead and netted my fingers in her loose hair. Her hair was incredibly long when not in her signature bun. She looked like a princess with her head of wavy, dirty blonde hair. Chloe drove us to the beach, not far from the lighthouse, and parked in the sand. Kate jumped up, apparently asleep again, at the feel of the car lurching to a stop. Chloe leapt out of the truck and started to haul things from the flatbed. It was hard to tell what it was in the darkness of the night.

"Chloe, what the fuck are we doing at the beach at three in the god damn morning?" I spat angrily, Kate gave me a frustrated look and I apologized.

Chloe ignored my shouting and continued to shuffle around on the beach, setting up what looked like a pile of sticks up into a cone shape. She produced a beer from the back of the truck, took a swig, and poured the rest on the sticks. Then, in a flash, she lit it with a match. She jumped back in fear when the flames lurched up towards the sky. Chloe looked up at us with a mischievous grin illuminated by her small bonfire. I shook my head and laughed.

"She's insane." I concluded, my reasoning sound. Kate laughed but slid out of my embrace and onto the beach to join Chloe. I followed. The sea air was freezing, the fire did little to help unless I was standing precariously close. Chloe casually tossed her beer bottle beside the bonfire and ripped off her pajamas, leaving her in her bra and boxer-shorts. Kate averted her eyes, flustered, and let out a little laugh.

"Chloe..." I couldn't even think of what to say. She turned that wolffish grin to me and pulled me towards the water with her. "No, no no no, no no, no the water is freezing!" I squealed as Chloe picked me up and dragged me into the frigid water of Arcadia Bay. She laughed chaotically and put me down in the water, I trembled violently and pushed her. "Oh my god you fucking asshole!" I exclaimed, though she kept laughing. Chloe turned on her heel and bounded out of the water, up the beach, and chased Kate like a wolf after a lamb. Kate screamed and sprinted away, giggling all the while. Eventually, Chloe caught her and brought her into the water with us. The sound of our teeth chattering was barely heard above the sloshing of the tide around us.

"Chloe, why did you do this?" I asked for the last time. Chloe, very simply, pointed to the sky. Kate and I looked up and saw a clear night full of stars, the moon was so bright and big; I felt like I could've jumped up and grabbed it.

"Wow." I heard Kate say under her breath. "It's amazing." Chloe's arms wrapped around our waists and pulled the three of us together. She kissed us both, her lips cold and salty from the sea.

"I love you guys." She sighed happily.

"We love you too, you romantic dork." I replied.

We returned to the bonfire when our toes began to loose feeling. We sat together, leaning against one and other, sand invading our clothes, and freezing to the bone. Hushed conversation and chaste kisses were exchanged amongst shivers and giggles.

"Put your cold feet on me." Chloe said to Kate, seeing how she shook. Kate chortled and complied, Chloe regretted it immediately but voiced not protest. Instead she leaned in to give Kate a deep kiss, slow and passionate. I felt a little bit warmer watching them. Chloe's hand began to roam instinctively over Kate's cool skin. She let out a tiny noise when Chloe's hand made it to her thigh. Kate pulled away, just enough to speak.

"Chloe, no."

"I-I...I'm sorry." Chloe breathed. "I just...I got caught up. I'm sorry."

"Shh, it's okay, I know." Kate assured and planted another kiss on her lips. "I'm sure someone else would be willing to comply though." Kate gave me an impish look, Chloe turned to look at me as well. Chloe chuckled a little.

"Have I been ignoring you, Max?" She asked, I didn't get to answer before her lips were on mine. I couldn't stop a moan form escaping my throat as Chloe pushed me down into the sand, her lips bruising mine. Poor Kate was probably really uncomfortable but I couldn't think much past the salty taste of Chloe's lips. We broke apart only to breathe, her eyes scanned mine; her eyes were full of love. Then I heard a sound. It was low and rumble-y.

"Do you hear that?" I asked, hushed.

"What?" Chloe's expression changed to panic in an instant. We both sat up to scan the beach. We didn't see anything immediately, so Chloe decided it was fine to pin me back beneath her. I went along with it but I was concerned as the rumbling grew louder. I pushed Chloe back by her shoulders, it was only then that I noticed her bra was gone. She must've cast it aside when I wasn't paying attention to her and instead focused on the rumbling.

"Max, what's wrong?" Chloe asked me, disappointed I continued to stop our fun.

"I hear something weird!" I insisted.

"It's probably just the ocean, babe." Chloe retorted, kissing my neck.

"No, Chloe, there's a car!" I exclaimed as my eyes fell upon headlights coming up the beach, right towards us.

"What the fuck?" Chloe shouted, following my eyes. "Shit, shit shit shit, get in the truck!"

"Who is that?" I asked, getting to my feet and pulling Kate to hers.

"Probably the beach patrol! I thought they would've split by now." Chloe answered, kicking sand onto our fire. Kate and I scrambled to grab our clothes and get in the truck. Kate was shaking once again, from cold of fear I wasn't sure. My instinct was to pull her close and cradle her tightly. Chloe sprinted into the truck, in all her bare chested glory, and sped off the beach. The lights of the other vehicle disappeared as we stormed the Main Street of town, speeding towards Chloe's house. Chloe eyed her rear view mirror anxiously the entire ride home, she hopped uneasily in her seat. Then the lights appeared behind us again, now with flashing warning lights added to the blaring headlights.

"Shit! Fuck! Dammit!" Chloe freaked.

"Just pull over." Kate said. "Please, pull over, Chloe."

"Fine. But I have no shirt on!" Chloe exclaimed.

"Where did it go?" I asked, searching through soaked garments.

"I'm wearing it, I changed at the beach because I was freezing." Kate said sheepishly. Chloe growled in frustration as she pulled over and threw on a cold, wet shirt. The vehicle pulled up behind us, it's bright lights made it hard to see it's insignia. Someone exited the car, a man, and walked up to the window. None of us were prepared for who it was.

"Oh my god, David?!" Chloe shouted.

"Chloe?!" David screamed back. "And Max and Kate? What the fuck do you think you're doing out at this time?"

"I'd ask you the same thing!" Chloe shouted back.

"That is none of your business-"

"And this is none of your business!" Chloe bickered. David eyed Kate and me warily.

"You two get out, you're riding with me." David said, gesturing to us. "Chloe, you're driving this truck straight home and you and me and your mother are having a talk."

"Like hell, that's going to happen." Chloe almost laughed as she shifted her truck back into drive. "Watch your toes, asshole." And with that, she slammed on the gas, barreling back down the street. Kate's nails sunk into me, she let out a tiny startled squeak.

"Oh my god, Chloe, that was awesome!" I cheered. "But you're going to fucking kill us if you keep speeding like this!"

Chloe ignored me, smiling to herself and checking the rear view periodically. Once she was sure David wasn't going to chase us home, she slowed down. We were just up the street from her house. Once we pulled in Chloe stripped off her cold wet shirt and opened the door for us.

"David is going to kill you." I breathed as we entered.

"And so is your mother." A voice sounded from the living room. Joyce was awake, dressed in a fluffy robe but wearing an angry face.

"Shit." Chloe exclaimed and covered her chest. Joyce was positively fuming, her face red and her fists trembling.

"You girls had better start explaining right now."

"It was my idea!" Kate exclaimed before Chloe and I could even open our mouths. Everyone turned to look at the sheepish, shaking girl with skepticism. Joyce put a hand on her hip.

"Is that so, Kate?" She questioned, clearly unbelieving. Kate nodded, chewing her lip.

"Kate, you weren't built to lie, so don't try it; especially to me." Joyce said, a bit gentler. "Now you go on upstairs and get changed."

"Y-Yes ma'am." Kate whimpered, her head bowed. She gave Chloe and I an apologetic look before scurrying upstairs.

"Y'all better be ashamed, having Kate take the blame." Joyce scolded.

"Mom, it was me, okay?" Chloe responded with a sigh. "I dragged them out to the beach, I was trying to be romantic. Don't be mad at them."

"...Why are you naked?" Joyce noticed.

"Swimming."

Joyce let out a sharp breath through her nose and glared at the two of us for a minute.

"Go to bed. Both of you. Now." Joyce released us with a tired flick of her wrist. "And apologize to Kate."

Chloe beamed.

"Oh my god tha-"

"Go!" Joyce cast her eyes to the floor and pointed a firm finger towards the stairs. Chloe and I bolted upstairs with happy laughs in our throats.

"I cannot believe we just got away with that!" Chloe shouted in her room. Chloe hugged me tight, I was suddenly more aware of her bare chest pressing against me. It was I who engaged a long, slow kiss in the middle of her room. She smiled into it and pulled me over onto her bed, the two of us falling onto each other; happy we had gotten away without punishment. "Tonight has been amazing." Chloe breathed. The two of us jumped as Kate entered the room, changed into warm, clean clothes. She smiled at us.

"I'm sorry, I tried to-"

"Shut up and get over here, dork." Chloe insisted. Kate giggled and joined us in our loving cuddle puddle.

"Tonight really was amazing." I agreed. "Let's take a picture." They agreed, and the three of us took our photo. Kate's wild hair was splayed across the bed, I was still in my sticky, wet shirt, and Chloe was still shirtless. All of us were beaming so genuinely.

.o0o.

Chloe was squeezing Kate tightly, muttering soft thank you's under her breath. Kate laughed gently, she looked so tired but she still went through Polaroids with us. She found one and held it up to us. With a soft gasp, she turned and looked at Chloe.

"I still have them." She said and brought her darkened fingers up to her ears, she wore golden crosses on her ear lobes; they were from Christmas last year, from Chloe.

.o0o.

Joyce opened the front door, a bright smile on her face.

"Max, Kate, you made it! Merry Christmas, girls." Joyce greeted us and pulled Kate and I into a warm hug. "How was the party up at Blackwell?"

"It was really nice." Kate enthused. "Everyone did secret Santa's and I got a really cute sweater."

"I got a box of film." I chuckled. Joyce laughed.

"They stole my idea." She said with a wink. "Chloe and David are in the living room. Please go check on them and make sure they haven't murdered one and other, I need to check on the food."

Kate and I waltzed together into the living room to find Chloe and David glaring at each other in front of the Christmas tree.

"Don't kill each other, it's Christmas." I joked. Chloe's angry brow arched as she began to smile at us.

"Max, Kate! Well I got my Christmas wish." Chloe said, hugging us. "Well one of them," she mumbled in my ear. "The other is for David to get the fuck out of my house."

"I heard that, Chloe." David barked.

"Don't make me ruin Christmas, David." Chloe shot back turning on her heel to face him again. Kate calmly separated the two, pulling Chloe towards the couch and sitting her down, leaving me in an awkward staring contest with David. I gave him a small wave.

"Hello, Max." He greeted me with a nod. "Merry Christmas."

"Merry Christmas, David." I replied out of politeness. "Uh...do you and Joyce have any plans?"

"None in particular but I got her something really nice." David said with the hint of a smile. "I hope she likes it."

"I'm sure she will." I was compelled to assure him that he would make Joyce happy with his gift. They were a nice couple, they cared about each other a lot. I tolerated him for the sake of Joyce. "I'm going to go see if she needs help." I said to avoid any further interaction with David. David let me wander away into the kitchen. It was filled with the hot, sweet smell of Joyce's cooking.

"Need a hand, Joyce?" I asked. Joyce gave me an appreciative smile.

"Naw, thank you honey. Everything's just about done." She answered. "Should we eat or open gifts first?"

"Gifts!" Chloe shouted from the other room, Joyce chuckled defeatedly.

"I was going to vote gifts too." I mused, making her laugh harder.

"Alright, everyone to the tree!" Joyce declared, ushering me to the tree. David began handing everyone their gifts.

"Kate, this is from Chloe." He said gruffly and nervously as he handed Kate a small wrapped present.

"Thank you." Kate replied, too polite for her own good.

"Open it. Open it, open it, open it." Chloe chanted, bouncing excitedly around Kate in a circle. Kate giggled as she tore the wrapping paper off. "I had to wrap it like four times." Chloe said to me, gripping my arm in anticipation. Kate found a velvet covered box beneath the wrapping paper. She raised a questioning brow to Chloe who continued to urge her to open it. Kate opened the little box and gasped.

"Oh my goodness, Chloe!" She exclaimed and showed the contents to us. Inside the box was a pair of earrings, they were golden crosses embedded with small gemstones. "Chloe, they're beautiful." Kate looked like she was going to cry.

"They're real too." Chloe boasted, proud of her gift.

"How did you buy these?" Kate asked.

"How did you buy those, Chloe?" David growled. Chloe rolled her eyes.

"With money that I earned, David." She spat.

"No no no, no fighting. Thank you, Chloe. I love them." Kate intercepted their beginning fight to give Chloe a hug. "I love you."

"I love you too, Hun bun." Chloe replied, kissing Kate's cheeks. "Now Max, open yours!"

"Haha, okay." David passed me a larger box, I opened it with some difficulty. "Who went rogue with the tape?" I asked, tearing through the paper. Chloe raised her hand with a crooked grin.

"Guilty."

I opened the box to find a large, leather-bound photo album and a few rolls of new film.

"Awesome, Chloe! I just filled up my last album." I grinned.

"Open it, dweeb." Chloe smiled back excitedly. I obeyed, opening the album. Inside were old pictures of Chloe and I from when we were younger, then more recent ones of her and I, and a few that she shouldn't have put in there since we had the whole family together. Flustered, I closed it but thanked her. It was Chloe's turn to open her gifts, she tore into them like a wild cat and flung the paper everywhere. She opened Kate's first, she was giggling behind her hands. As soon as she opened the box she promptly closed it, not letting anyone else see. She turned towards Kate with an embarrassed, yet proud, smirk.

"Kate." Chloe said, Kate chortled loudly. "Kate. Kate, what the heckie."

"What is it?" Joyce asked, curious as to what made Kate laugh so hard.

"No!" Chloe answered, clutching the box to her chest. Joyce rolled her eyes and let it go. Chloe went to open my gift next but I told her to wait until there was less people present.

It was a bong, not gonna lie. She broke her last one a few months ago and I just figured...

Anyhow, it was then my turn to open the gifts. I went for Kate's first. The present was thin, I was able to tear the paper off much easier than I did Chloe's. I opened it to find a framed picture of a doe. Then I realized it wasn't a picture, it was a drawing; a drawing that Kate did.

"How did you do this?" I exclaimed, baffled by the realism. Kate shrugged humbly.

"I just thought about you." She cooed. I sat the picture down to give her a tight hug and thank her repeatedly.

"It's amazing, you're amazing." I said, she just smiled back with a thick blush on her cheeks. "Thank you." I felt a tap on my shoulder, I turned around to see Chloe standing with her arm raised above us and a smirk on her face. When I looked up at her hand, I saw a mistletoe between her fingers.

"Merry Christmas." Chloe said slyly, kissing Kate and I without a care.

"Smile, girls." Joyce's voice called us back out of our kissing session. She had swiped my camera, but I didn't protest and smiled alongside the loves of my life.

.o0o.

The evening had wound down. All of us stopped talking. We laid there in each other's arms, taking in all that was us; all that was Kate. At one point Kate started to sob. It'd seemed that's all any of us did the past week. Last kisses were exchanged, our hands cramped from holding each other so tightly. Kate worked up the ability to speak through her years.

"I never loved anyone as much as I love you two." She cried. I shook my head, rejecting this whole situation. Rejecting that I was losing my angel. Her face was so sunken and tired, she was dying. She was dying right in front of us.

"I love you, Kate." I bawled, as did Chloe. It became a chant, the three of us exchanging 'I love you's' and wet kisses on tear-stained cheeks. We were tangled together, savor ing the feeling of our skin touching each other; who knows how long we might have the privilege.

"I love you so much." Chloe whispered into Kate's neck as our voices began to go quiet. We went back into our silence, until my room door opened. It was Wells. He stood firmly in the doorway, glowering down at us.

"Kate Marsh," he said in a deep voice. "It has come to my attention that you pose a threat to the safety of the survivors of Arcadia Bay, you need to leave the school grounds immediately."

"What?! No!" I shouted.

"You're not taking her!" Chloe protested alongside me. "It's dark out, she'll be torn to pieces out there!"

"If she's not going to come willingly, I will use force." Wells threatened, I saw Jefferson standing behind him with a handgun clutched firmly in his fingers. Chloe and I stood between them and Kate but it was fruitless. Wells came in alongside Jefferson and a few other lackeys, they held Chloe and I out of the way as Jefferson pulled Kate by her arm out of our room. She was kicking and screaming. Her wide eyes boiling with fear, her dying fingers reaching for us, her cold toes gripping the floor. All I could hear was her screaming, it seemed endless, even when she left the building I could hear her outside. Wells took it upon himself to lock Chloe and I in our room, just in case we went after her. Chloe pounded against the door but they seemed to have barred it. She bloodied her knuckles beating against the hard wood. My world collapsed around me.

Kate was gone.

I fell to my knees, sobbing, cursing god and cursing myself. Chloe wrapped herself around me, bleeding and crying, cursing as much as I was.

I could hear her screams from our window. They went on for hours. She was suffering, dying out there. Cold, alone, afraid, and surrounded by the decaying faces of the people she once knew. She was just outside the walls, I could tell. I heard her saying our names. Her pleas went on and on.

And then...and then they just...

stopped.


	5. Life is Hopeful

**it's short but you'll thank me**

 **shout out to my co author lllllllllletsgay on tumblr**

.o0o.

Chloe shook me by the shoulders roughly, screaming for me to rewind. I raised my hand to do so but a violent pain shot through my brain, it rattled my eyeballs within my skull.

"I can't." I sobbed through blurred vision.

"God dammit, Max!" Chloe shouted, shoving herself off of me. "Why can't you ever use your fucking powers when we need you?!" Chloe started beating the door again, achieving nothing. I tried to use my powers again, there was nothing but pain and black spots clouding my eyes. I kept trying, my brain felt like it was in a microwave; ready to explode out of my head. Chloe's bloodied hands gripped my arm and held it down. "Max, stop, you're gushing blood." She bellowed. I looked down and saw that my nose had bled all over my clothes. Chloe let out a shuddery sigh and mopped up my blood with the hem of her shirt. "I'm sorry I yelled at you." Chloe said hoarsely as she collapsed beside me on the floor. "I just...wish we could do something."

"I know." I responded. I felt so empty. Part of my life was just torn away, right in front of me. I heard her in her last moments. So scared, screaming bloody murder. She was alone, again, and in the dark. I wasn't there for her.

"This is all my fault." Chloe said from beside me. "If I didn't shoot Taylor-"

"She would've died by her hands." I Interjected. "Chloe, don't blame yourself. You did what was right." Chloe didn't have the will to keep loathing about what happened, she accepted my words at face value and tried to calm down. I took it upon myself to wrap her knuckles up in bandages and sit back down beside her. Chloe gazed longingly out the window, silent tears flowing freely down her cheeks.

"She...she hasn't screamed in a while." She noticed. I nodded, swallowing a lump in my throat. "Do you think she's…?" I didn't answer, I just burrowed deeper into Chloe's side and let out more body-quaking cries.

I blacked out then. Once I opened my eyes I was cleaned up a bit more and in bed with Chloe. She was still awake though, staring with an empty gaze at the ceiling. I willed myself to roll over and drape myself over her body. She grabbed me back, rough yet caring, and placed a firm kiss against my forehead. "You passed out." Chloe whispered.

"I noticed." I replied. The bed was emptier without Kate. It was colder, I longed for the feeling of her soft skin against mine. "What are we going to do?" I asked Chloe despite neither of us having the answer.

"...We should look for her tomorrow." Chloe said. "Give her a real funeral. She would like that."

"I don't think either of us could stand seeing her like that, Chloe. It was hard enough looking at her for the past week." I felt Chloe sigh.

"I just need to see her again." She breathed into the dark. Chloe and I returned to our heavy hearted silence, the air thick with loss. I could barely process what had happened. So much of me believed that Kate would walk in, healthy and smiling, laughing when I told her about all of this; she would say I was being silly. But that wasn't my reality. I heard movement outside our room. Chloe and I sat up out of reflex. The door clicked as it was unlocked and opened. To our surprise, Alyssa stood in the doorway with urgency written all over her face.

"Do you want to go look for Kate?" She asked harshly. Chloe and I were too stunned to respond. "Look, I'm trying to bust you out, otherwise Wells is going to keep you locked in the school; this is your only chance."

Chloe and I looked at each other for a brief moment, I could see how much she wanted to leave. We didn't exchange words as we clambered hastily out of bed and into the hallway with Alyssa. in the hall there were more of our fellows, a startling turn out actually. Warren, Victoria, Brooke, Juliet, and Dana were all geared up.

"What are you guys doing?" I exclaimed.

"I want to know what happened to Kate," Warren said. "I want to know if there's still a chance to help her; maybe even find a cure."

"Wells is going mad with power." Juliet voiced. "He's been acting insane ever since he threw out Kate. He's making ridiculous orders, sending untrained people out at night; it's chaos and I don't want to be a part of it. I don't want any of us to have to deal with it." I saw her hand was laced in Dana's.

"I'm not letting you dorks get killed." Victoria grumbled.

"Me either." Brooke agreed.

I was touched but hesitant.

"You're all going to risk your lives?" I asked. All of them nodded, confident in their decisions. I shrugged slightly. "Let's move out then."

Alyssa had gathered our usual gear and slipped in more heavy supplies like weapons and food. Together, all of us had enough food and water for about two weeks, if we rationed it. The time was nearing dawn, we had to leave before Wells knew he was losing so many people. While the group figured out how to safely get Dana over the wall, I spoke with Alyssa.

"You're not coming?" I asked.

"I can't." Alyssa said. "I...I can't make it out there. I played my part in getting you out and getting all of you geared up."

"Alyssa...I can't thank you enough."

"Think of it as payment for all of those close calls back before this happened." Alyssa said with a lopsided smile. "Good luck, Max."

"Stay strong, Alyssa." I replied. I was compelled to hug her but the moment was brief because of Chloe calling me from atop the wall. I bid Alyssa one last farewell and I hopped the wall with my group. These were the people I was going to stand beside. These are the people I'm fighting for now.

"Let's go find Kate." I declared, marching to the front of the group and heading towards town.

.o0o.

We hadn't made it too far through town before we spotted the hoard from the week before. It had grown tremendously, there was at least two dozen dead shambling around in a circle; they were probably focused on a body. I prayed it wasn't Kate's. We stopped several yards away, Chloe, Brooke, and Juliet armed themselves to take out the horde. I would've voted on just bombing the entire group, but I didn't want to risk hurting Kate...if she was there. Amidst the graying, decaying bodies, I saw a flash of vibrant color. It was a bright aqua, just like Kate's shorts.

"Oh my god, I think I saw Kate." I blurted, hope rising in my chest.

"Where?" Chloe nearly shouted, lurching to the front of the group, beside me.

"She was more towards that wall they're next to." I said, pointing towards the group. "They're...they're circling her."

"Is she moving?" Chloe asked, trying to peer over the heads of the dead. Chloe gasped sharply, sitting up straighter. "Oh my god I saw her." She said. Before I could say anything, Chloe bolted from the group and towards the horde.

"Chloe no!" I whispered harshly after her. I watched in horror as Chloe shambled dangerously close to the zombies and hid behind a car. She picked up a piece of asphalt that had been broken off from the road and hurled it as far as she could away from us. It hit a car, shattering the windshield, and drew the attention of the horde. All but about four zombies trudged towards the sound. I could see Kate. She was slumped over, her head buried in her knees and her back pressed against the brick wall of a shop behind her. She wasn't moving. Her body was splattered with dried blood and dirt, but I couldn't make out any injuries from my position. Chloe sprung out from behind the car and charged the zombies around Kate with a hatchet in hand. She chopped one right in the back of it's skull, it died almost instantly. It took her a moment to dislodge the little axe from the bone, a zombie had walked up behind her and was preparing to pounce but she was just fast enough to swing and slash it through it's temple. It fell with a thud Then, to everyone's amazement, Kate held her head up. Her face was vacant, eyes dull. Kate leapt to her feet in a flash, heading towards Chloe; I feared for the worst. She shoved Chloe to the ground, away from the next zombie she was preparing to kill. Then she turned on her heel to face the zombie and roared at it. The zombie flinched and shied away like a scolded dog, it hobbled off to join the rest of it's group. The horde itself all began to back off, going even further away from Kate as her screams echoed through the street. It didn't sound like her. It's like there was something else bellowing such haunting call, but Kate was it's vessel. Kate turned back to Chloe, her eyes were glowing faintly in the soft light of the sunrise. Tears streamed down her dirtied cheeks.

"Chloe…" She gasped. "What...What are you-"

Chloe was up and onto her feet in a heartbeat, she hugged Kate tightly, ignoring the entire display that had just played out before her.

"Kate! Kate oh my god we thought you were dead!" Chloe sobbed loudly, attracting the horde again. "All of us broke out to come find you, and to escape."

"Whose 'all of us'?" Kate asked. Chloe pointed up at where our group was perched on a hill. She covered her mouth in surprise and cried harder. "You all…?"

I stood tall and unafraid to wave down at them.

She was alive.

The horde had come incredibly close, surrounding Kate and Chloe. They were eyeing Chloe with hunger in their eyes. Kate stood her ground against the zombies. Chloe drew her hatchet once more and swung threateningly at the ones who came to close. "Chloe, no!" Kate exclaimed, grabbing Chloe's arm and lowering her hatchet.

"What?!" She screamed.

"Don't hurt them." Kate insisted, she backed Chloe behind her and faced the zombies alone. Kate glared at all of them and let out loud shouts. The zombies flinched and cowered, hobbling a few feet away. Chloe looked down at Kate in fear.

"Kate, what the hell?" Chloe asked, too startled to censor herself. Kate stood up a bit straighter and stared Chloe dead in the eye.

"They're still people, Chloe." She said sternly. "We don't have to kill them. They're afraid of me. But they flock to me…"

"You're the fucking zombie queen." Chloe exclaimed full of fear and amazement. Kate took Chloe's hand and started to part the sea of the dead. The two of them walked closer to us, as they did Kate picked up speed. Eventually she broke into a sprint and leapt into my arms. We squeezed each other to the point of soreness, Chloe joined us as well. We were one again.

"We thought- We thought-" My throat kept catching, I couldn't even get a sentence out. Kate shushed me gently.

"I'm here, it's going to be okay." I pulled back and looked down at her with mild confusion.

"But how are you still...you?" I asked. Kate shrugged.

"I'm just as confused as you." She replied. Warren stepped forward and started to examine Kate, shining a light in her eyes and checking her pulse.

"Have you still been having seizures, Kate?" He asked, pausing to give her a quick hug.

"I don't think so…" Kate answered, squeezing him back. "I had a panic attack last night though."

"Understandable." Warren cooed. We turned our attention back to the horde, they were growing curious.

"We need to get out of here." Victoria urged, gripping my forearm. I nodded in agreement.

"Kate," I turned back to her, she looked up at me with doleful eyes. "Do you think you could buy us some time?"

"I'll try." Kate said shakily with a tiny, nervous nod. She padded back towards the horde, my instinct was to stop her, but I saw the zombies cower as she approached and my fears melted away. But only slightly. The dead followed her with fear in their decaying bodies. They were terrified of her. I was admittedly a little scared too. With the dead distracted our group began to navigate the street. It was impossible to free run with Dana in the group, she couldn't hop over cars or run the rest of us. I had to make protecting her the priority of the moment and had the group encircle her while we paced down the road.

"Where are we headed, Max?" Victoria asked warily.

"Well, I figured the train station would be good for now." I answered, looking over my shoulder for hidden zombies. "But once Wells notices we're gone, we're going to have to find somewhere else."

"We can keep following the tracks can't we?" She asked. "Head to that other little town?"

"No," Chloe interjected. "It's too dangerous."

"We can kill a horde, it's no big deal." Victoria argued.

"No, Vic, we can't go there." Chloe insisted. "We can't."

"It's not like we have anywhere else to go!" Victoria continued to bicker with Chloe, they were getting too loud.

"Both of you shut up, we're camping at the station and then we're figuring this out." I shushed, turning on my heel to glare up at the taller girls. "We need to get away from the school and away from this horde, that's the plan for now. Okay?"

"Alright, Max." Chloe nodded, Victoria sighed and shut up. I let out a huff and continued to march my herd away from the street. Eventually, Kate caught up with us. She said she distracted the horde with a car alarm and managed to sneak away without any tagging along. Kate was rather lethargic, and only after being separated from her for the night did I realize how thin she had become over the last week. Her hands, still a bruised black hue, were cold and bony in my fingers. I feared if I squeezed too hard, I'd break her.

The clan had made it to the train tracks without incident, giving us a chance to breathe. We disassembled our protective shape and wandered in a fluid group at our own paces. I slowed from the head of the group with Chloe and Victoria to check on the middle of the group with Kate. Walking in the center of the group was Brooke, she walked with no one beside her.

"How are you, Brooke?" I asked. She shrugged and gave me a half hearted smirk.

"I'm alive. Kate's alive. We're alive." She replied simply. Kate smiled in return.

In the back of the group, Warren and Juliet were walking with Dana, both of them holding her hands. Dana looked flushed, she was breathing heavily, and Warren was warning her not to overdo it.

"Dana, are you alright?" Kate asked. Dana looked up at Kate, red in the face, and forced a smile.

"Still worrying about everyone else, huh, Kate?" She laughed. "I'll make it. We aren't far."

"Do you want the group to slow down, Dana? We don't want you straining." I worried. Dana shook her head, gasping.

"No, just go. It's like...like five more minutes away..." Dana huffed.

Reluctantly, I let the group march on at their tempo. Dana was right, we made it to the station within the next few minutes and everyone got to rest inside the safety of the fence. Brooke stood atop the roof, assuring nothing was coming after us, while the rest of us went inside. Juliet tended to Dana, obsessively checking if she was alright. Victoria stood in the doorway, not looking at anyone. Warren came over to Chloe, Kate and I and started to check on Kate again. I started crying again, as did Kate. Chloe held in her tears and hugged us both tightly.

"You didn't have to do this, you guys." Kate sniffled, not paying attention to Warren as he checked her pulse with his watch.

"Of course we did, Kate." I said back. "We love you."

Kate beamed, kissing us both.

"I love you too."

Warren assured us Kate's vitals seemed normal for someone still going through the transformation but she clearly was still her sweet self. "What does this mean, Warren?" Kate asked with worry. "I survived the first week, am I...am I immune?"

"There's no telling. Maybe there's something we don't know that can trigger the last part of the transformation, or maybe this kind of infection takes longer. We won't know." Warren shrugged, gathering everyone's attention with his words. He turned to me specifically. "For the safety of the group, I think we should restrain Kate."

Kate was enveloped in Chloe's protective embrace, Chloe instantly rejected the idea.

"No way in hell, Warren. We don't know if she's gonna turn-"

"That's exactly why we need to restrain her! In case she does!" Warren argued. "Max, what do you think?"

I was at a loss, being put on the spot like that.

"Uh..." I caught Victoria out of the corner of my eye and asked her what she thought. She gave me a sideways glance.

"Maybe she can stay outside for the night. With Brooke and me." Victoria offered. "If anything happens you'd hear."

"But I don't want to put you in danger, Victoria." Kate whimpered.

"I don't think you're a danger, Kate." Victoria said back, if not a bit cooly. "You can stay with Brooke and I. C'mon, Kate, Warren doesn't trust you."

"It's not that I don't trust Kate, Victoria." Warren growled as Kate reluctantly trudged away from Chloe and I. She gave us a fragile smile as we were separated again. Chloe let out a sharp breath through her nose and folded her arms across her chest, glaring up at Warren. He glared back, unfazed.

"You two just separate before I have you both put on night watch." I spat, sick of their staring contest. Warren spared me a grimace before he padded off to check on Dana. Chloe snuggled against me with a sigh.

"We've got a long road ahead, Max." She whispered. Her eyes turned to lock with mine, her brows arched with worry. "Do you have a plan?"

"When have I ever had a plan?" I almost laughed back, Chloe shook her head and rolled her eyes.

"I'm being serious, Max. You've got people's lives in your hands now, you're our leader without question. We have these people to take care of."

"..."

"And we might have Wells after us, cuz you know he's crazy. We got dead and living after our asses. We need a plan."

I let out a breath and pressed my forehead against Chloe's.

"Whatever happened to your truck, Chloe?" I asked.

"Last I remember, it was back at the junkyard. But most of the cars in the area have been stripped, I doubt mine is in tact."

"Worth a shot though, right?"

"I'll follow you, Mad Max." Chloe said with a soft smile. "...I love you. I'm so happy Kate is okay."

"I love you too, and so am I." I gave her a peck and settled in, we would wait out the rest of today here, and the night, and hopefully tomorrow morning Chloe and I would find the truck. Hopefully, we can keep Kate safe. Who knows, maybe we can reverse the effects? Find a real cure? We can stop this before it gets too late to fix...


	6. Hearing

I woke up to the sounds of my name being shouted, intermingled with yells and gasps. I feared the worst, that something had broken in- or worse, Kate had turned. It took a moment for my eyes to focus, I saw half of the group huddled in a circle around Kate. Chloe was at my side, urging me to wake up

"Max, Max it's Kate." She whimpered.

"What's wrong?" I barked, sitting up straight and trying to get a look at her.

"She's seizing again, I-I-I don't know how to help her."

"Why does no one listen to me dammit?!" Warren shouted. "There's nothing we can do, she's just gotta let it pass!" I couldn't bear to look, yet I couldn't take my eyes away from her. Sprawled across the cold concrete floor, eyes rolled all the way back.

"Get away from her!" I shouted, pushing everyone away, thankfully Dana wasn't one of them. I don't even know what I was trying to accomplish, I only succeeded in bringing myself closer to the torment I didn't even want to see. I saw the goosebumps trailing across her cold, pale skin, i saw each shaking muscle, each gasp for life. Warren's firm hands pulled me away from her. He was shouting still but I didn't hear him, I was too engrossed in Kate. It felt like hours, but just as before it came to a sudden stop. All of us hushed, waiting, watching, hoping she was still our Kate. It took a second but she sat up and rubbed her head.

"Wh-why does that keep happening to me?" She asked as she turned to us with wide, fearful eyes. It was so hard not to have an answer for her.

"I don't know, Kate." I whispered.

Slowly, everyone sunk back to their sleeping spaces, uneasy but tired form the sudden awakening. I couldn't rest. MY eyes refused to shut so long as Kate was so overwhelmed. It seemed like Victoria was equally worried, which was still unusual to see. She was never one to be so expressive, at least not with positive motions. But over the last few days she'd been opening up. Well, as much as Victoria could open up. Her eyes were trained on Kate, only the three of us remained completely aware. Victoria, sitting opposite of me, looked forlorn as she leaned against the wall. Kate was standing at a window. It was too high for her to peer directly out of so she stood on her toes. It still threw me to see her appendages as they were; the sickening dark hue creeping up her veins. Thankfully, it didn't seem to go past her elbows or knees, which to me meant it wasn't spreading. However it was still prominent on her neck and mouth. I wondered if it hurt to breathe, to speak. I wondered if it hurt all of the turned ones. Maybe their growls and moans were cries for help, to end their pain.

Kate made a little noise, startling me. It wasn't anything though, just a tiny hum as she craned to look out the window. I didn't say anything to her, I wanted to see what she was becoming without our interference, as terrible as that sounds. Maybe, if we could just help remind her who she is, she'll stay herself.

Kate picked at her fingers, looking antsy as she lingered at the window. She bounced on her toes, then rocked on her heels, then back to her toes. She looked worried, glowing eyes grabbing every bit of information they could acquire in the dark night.

"Are you alright, Kate?" Victoria spoke up softly in the silence. Kate flinched, her head whipping around to look at Victoria. She took a moment, as if processing the appropriate response. She nodded, eventually, muttering a tiny 'uh-huh-' to back it up. "You sure?" Victoria pressed.

"Yeah." Kate muttered, pulling absentmindedly at the hem of her t-shirt. Kate slowly turned back to the window, nodding her head as if she was listening to music.

"Do you hear something, Kate?" Victoria asked, looking at me quickly to make sure I was watching Kate's mannerisms as well.

"Yeah." Kate responded. "I hear singing."

"Singing?" I repeated.

"Yeah. It sounds sad." Kate said, brows furrowing.

"Do you know where from?" I questioned further, sitting up a bit more.

"Outside. The roof? I don't know." Kate murmured. I did a quick headcount of everyone still sleeping inside, I noticed that Brooke was missing. Maybe she was singing while keeping watch? That'd be stupid though, that'd attract zombies quickly. Yet, as i thought about it, I realized I couldn't hear the singing at all, not even when I focused. Victoria looked at each other as we both had this realization, then we nodded in unison, silently agreeing to go investigate. Victoria grabbed a baseball bat for precaution, I didn't take anything with me though, I figured if there were any threats outside, Brooke would've alerted us by now.

"Stay here, Kate." I urged.

"'kay." She chirped, eyes locked on the window once more.

Victoria and I proceeded out into the crisp night air, listening for the source of the suspicious singing. Yet we heard nothing, only the soft rustle of wind through the trees. I nudged Victoria and pointed up to the roof, she nodded and followed me up there. Brooke was sitting guard, as usual, she looked somewhat startled to see us up there.

"What's up?" She whispered.

"Kate said she heard singing, were you singing?" I asked. Brooke scoffed.

"As if."

"Well, did you hear any singing?"

"No, but i was listening to my headphones on low." Brooke pulled a single earbud from her ear and held it up for us to see. "It's only got one side now, the other got torn off, but hey at least I can still charge this little mp3 player." Victoria and I kept silent, trying to listen for her music. Even here, on the roof with her, we couldn't hear it.

"How low do you have it?" Victoria questioned.

"It's not even at half, I keep it low so I can still listen for shamblers." Brooke said. If that truly was the case, and that was what Kate was hearing, she must be mutating more.

"There's no way Kate could've heard that from inside the station." I said. "No way...Right?"

"I mean...I would say no but," Victoria sighed, "We don't know how this shits affecting her. Her eyes are all glowy now, she can see in the dark. Is it so far-fetched that she could hear super well too?"

I let out a deep breath.

"I don't want to believe it." I responded. "Because if that's really whats happening, we're losing her more and more each day."

After a few minutes in the cold, Victoria and I returned inside to attempt to sleep again. According to my watch, it was three in the morning. We still had plenty of time before daybreak, and we all needed the rest. Kate had moved from her station at the window and was seated beside Chloe's sleeping form. She was rocking slightly when we entered, her shimmering eyes looked up at us with a kind of primal urgency that made my skin crawl.

"Max, come here." Kate whispered. I obeyed and knelt at her side.

"Are you alright?" I asked, giving her a once over. She shrugged a bit, chewing her lip.. "Well what is it?" Kate flushed, looking down at her hands for a moment before leaning close to me, her hot breath against my ear.

"Do you remember the first time we...?" She trailed off with a nervous giggle. I blushed, caught of guard by her question.

"I-I- Well yes but, why?" I stammered, glancing around to make sure no one was listening. Kate shrugged again.

"Dunno. I was thinking about it." She murmured, going back to rocking. "Reminiscing I guess." Kate sighed and scooted a bit closer to me, resting her head against my shoulder. "I was so scared then." She continued. "I miss it, that fear. Because back then, the fear from then, that was nothing compared to the fear i feel now. But I trusted you. I still trust you now, with this, even though this is so much scarier."

It hurt my heart to hear the sentiment, whether it was for good or bad I cannot say. I hugged Kate close, rubbing her back to help lull her to sleep.

"You need to sleep, angel." I chastised, placing a soft peck on her head.

"I only will if you do too." Was her curt reply. Again, a deep breath escaped me, but I relented. We curled up together, tangled in each other's limbs, and I managed to drift to sleep before she did. I slept knowing her shimmering eyes were watching me. I didn't know whether I should be comforted by this, or fear for my life.

.o0o.

 _ **After like what, two years? I have returned! Hopefully it won't take another two years for a minuscule update, haha.**_


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